Mohammed Siraj, with two Test matches behind him, was put in a surprise role as the leader of the Indian pace attack and punched way above his weight with his first-ever five-wicket haul in the fourth and final Test against Australia in Brisbane.
The crucial Test at Gabba, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series tied at 1-1, saw Siraj step up with figures of 19.5-5-73-5 in the second innings to keep a severely-depleted Indian team in the hunt.
Turning challenge into opportunity: Mohammed Siraj’s maturity shines through in Gabba five-for
The 26-year-old Hyderabad pacer is playing his first Test series and after a series of injuries to India’s frontline pacers, was the most experienced of the lot at Brisbane. He led the Indian attack after playing in a mere two Test matches and his wickets included the big ones of the opposition’s two best batsmen – Marnus Labuschagne (25 off 22 balls) and Steve Smith (55 off 74 balls).
He produced two top quality deliveries to get rid of them and said that the short ball to get rid of Steve Smith was his favourite among the 13 wickets in the series.
Both deliveries were different from each other like chalk and cheese. Labuschagne got a fuller delivery on the off-stump that moved in a shade and he jabbed at it with Rohit Sharma taking a smart catch at second slip.
He also ensured that Australia’s accomplished tail didn’t cost India much with the wickets of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
At the end of the day, while India is still not out of the woods, it was Siraj who lead the team off-field, showing scuffed red kookaburra and acknowledging the applause.
Watch the highlights of his five-for
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