The Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has heaped praise on Mohammed Siraj’s performance in the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
He went on to call him ‘remarkable’ and believes the pacer hasn’t received enough credit for what he deserves throughout his career.
Siraj bowled 1113 deliveries in the series and became the second bowler in the series, alongside Chris Woakes, to bowl over 1000 balls. With 23 wickets, he was the highest wicket-taker and helped the side to draw the series 2-2.
“Unbelievable. Superb approach. I like that attitude. Love the spring in his legs. If you don’t look at the scoreboard and just look at his body language, you will not be able to make out if Siraj has taken 5 wickets or he hasn’t taken any wickets. The body language, attitudes and approach remains the same,” said Sachin Tendulkar.
The Master Blaster went on to highlight Siraj’s attitude and intensity in approach that makes him uncomfortable to batsmen.
“No batsman likes a fast bowler who is in your face relentlessly. If you go ask Joe Root, who is a world-class player and who has made so many runs, will you prefer facing Siraj or someone who bowls quietly and goes, he will undoubtedly prefer the other, because Siraj is always in my face.”
“That’s what he is about. He has bowled about 1000 deliveries in this series and till the last day his approach, the speeds he bowled in his last few deliveries like 90mph it shows jigar- he has a big heart,” he added.
Sachin Tendulkar talked about a couple of low points in Mohammed Siraj’s journey in the England series, the dismissal at Lord’s when India were close to winning and the drop catch of Harry Brook in the last Test that threatened India’s hold on the game.
“I know when defending at Lord’s he had middled the ball, but there was some stone in front at the pitch and the ball bounced back on to the stumps – it must have been such a setback for him,” added Tendulkar.
“Also that catch in the final Test (Harry Brook) but his legs touched the ropes. All this happened and I was feeling that he would come up with something special on the last day to kill all these bad things,” said Sachin Tendulkar.
England needed 35 runs for four wickets in the final day of The Oval test, where Mohammed Siraj picked three wickets. With Gus Atkinson and injured Chris Woakes batted for the last wicket. However Siraj dismissed Atkinson to secure 6-run victory.
“He has always been instrumental in playing a key role whenever we need him to deliver that knockout punch – he has been able to do it in the past and so was the case in this series. People underplay him, the kind of focus he should have on him, doesn’t get credit that he deserves. I love watching him bowl,” he concluded.
