Brisbane: Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj remembered his late father after picking five wickets for 73 runs to become only the fifth Indian bowler to pick a five-wicket haul in a Test at the Gabba.
Expressing his views after achieving success, he said, “First of all I need to thank God that I got this opportunity to play for India. It was my dad’s desire to see his son play with the entire world watching him play. Wish he were here to see this. He would have been very happy. It were his prayers that enabled me to take five wickets today. I am speechless, have no words to describe this”.
“I am very grateful that I got five wickets. It was a very tough situation with dad having passed away. I talked to folks at home, spoke to mom. They encouraged me, made me feel strong. I got mentally strong with their support. I felt that whatever was dad’s desire, I have to fulfill that. It got fulfilled,” he added.
Mohammed Siraj joins list of Indians with fifer
On Monday, Siraj joined the list of Indians with a fifer in Tests at The Gabba.
- Erapalli Prasanna: 6/104 in 1968
- Bishan Singh Bedi: 5/57 in 1977
- Madan Lal: 5/72 in 1977
- Zaheer Khan: 5/95 in 2003
- Mohammed Siraj: 5/73 in 2021
Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj topped the list of wicket-takers in the current test series.
- Mohammed Siraj: 13 wickets in 3 Tests
- Ravichandran Ashwin: 12 wickets in 3 Tests
- Jasprit Bumrah: 11 wickets in 3 Tests
- Ravindra Jadeja: 7 wickets in 2 Tests
- Shardul Thakur: 7 wickets in 1 Test
Meanwhile, BCCI wrote, “Before the Border-Gavaskar Test series, Siraj lost his father. He then made a promise to himself. Today, he fulfilled it. Siraj, we are all very proud of you.”
India’s position in four-match series
At the end of day four of the fourth and final test, Australia set a target of 328 runs for India.
The four-match series is currently tied at 1-1 as Australia won the first Test in Adelaide and India thrashed the host team in the second test in Melbourne. The third Test in Sydney had ended in a draw.