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XtraTime Web Desk - What a time Mohammed Siraj is having! After losing his father during the Australian tour, Mohammed Siraj made his debut in red ball cricket and just in his third test, picked up five wickets in an innings and put India in a very good place.

After taking his maiden fifer in test cricket, Siraj dedicated his achievement to his father. “I thank Allah for everything that has happened to me during this tour. I wish my father was there to see, he would have been really proud. He always wanted to see me perform all over the world”.

He added, “It felt really nice to pick the wickets today. I would thank everyone for getting five wickets. I also talked to people at home, my mom was giving me a strong feeling. I just wanted to fulfil my dad’s wishes and that’s what I did. About tomorrow, we will have to wait and see our approach”.

After Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja got injured at SCG, Siraj was unexpectedly the senior bowler in the camp, playing just his 3rd test. “Senior bowler? (Haha) I am very confident because I played domestic cricket a lot. I got a lot of confidence in my past performance. Everyone was calling me as the senior bowler. My only aim was to build pressure and not try something too different”.

Siraj gave credit to Bharat Arun, the bowling coach of Indian cricket team. “Bharat Arun sir only tells me to keep bowling the same way I bowl in domestic cricket. He didn’t give me any other advice, he just wanted me to concentrate on basic things. His confidence in me was a great thing and that really helped me during the series. Every time I talk to him, he gives me confidence”.

India suffered from a lot of injuries in the Australian summer. When asked about his fitness, Siraj said, “Fitness is very vital in cricket, I have been practising throughout the lockdown and have been in constant touch with my trainer, who has given me specialised plans. I got to know how important fitness is in cricket and specially in test cricket”.

“I missed Jassi bhai (Jasprit Bumrah) and in his absence, I had to step up on the occasion. My aim was to build pressure on Australia batsmen”, Siraj said about missing Bumrah and his plans for the Australian batsmen.

When everyone in the internet is saying that India should go for the draw, Siraj cleared that India is looking for a victory. “If I get a chance, I will bat for India but the goal is to win to the series. After so many injuries but still we had fought back especially in the first innings. It is a proud moment to see how youngsters Shardul, Washington, and Natarajan are performing and want to thank Ajinkya Rahane for backing me and others throughout”.