England vs India 3rd Test: Mohammed Siraj came up with his first reaction after India's heartbreaking defeat in the third Test against England at Lord's on Monday. India suffered a 22-run loss on the final day of the Lord's Test.
Siraj was left dejected after his unfortunate dismissal and was almost left in tears before England players including Joe Root and skipper Ben Stokes came to console the star Indian pacer and acknowledged his fighting effort throughout the game.
Siraj kept India's hopes alive as he gave a promising support to Ravindra Jadeja while India were inching closer to the 193-run target. However, despite defending a ball off Shoaib Bashir right under his bat, the ball rolled a bit backwards and ended up hitting the stumps before celebrations began at Lord's.
"Some matches stay with you, not for the outcome, but for what they teach," Siraj wrote on Instagram while posting a series of pictures of the Lord's Test.
While India went 1-2 down in the five-match series, the whole of the cricketing fraternity lauded Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj for their effort to keep India alive in the game for a long while. Their stay at the crease was full of patience. India were reduced to 112/8 at the lunch break on the final day but Jadeja's fighting spirit took the game down to the final session. Bumrah scored 5 runs in 54 balls whereas Siraj faced 30 balls for his 4 runs.
Siraj bowled his heart out in the match and despite being unlucky at times he ended up taking a total of four wickets at Lord's. He is currently the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing five-match series with 13 wickets to his name at an average of 32.
The right-arm pacer had a memorable outing at Lord's. He found himself in the middle of a controversy as well after giving a fiery send-off to Ben Duckett after dismissing him in the second innings. Meanwhile, Siraj was fined 15 per cent of his match fee after a breach in the ICC Code of Conduct. Siraj was accused of 'crossing the line' in his celebration after Duckett's wicket.