After India’s incredible 151-run victory over England at Lord’s in 2021, Mohammed Siraj, the Team India fast bowler, revealed that the umpires ran towards him when he uprooted a stump to celebrate. The match official asked for the stump as it had a microphone attached to it but eventually substituted it with another. On the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) podcast, Siraj shared:
“When I picked the stump, it had a mic on it. Umpires had to come and tell me to leave that one; they would give me another. He came running and said, “Please give me this stump, I will give you a new one.”
Mohammed Siraj was one of India’s top performers with the ball throughout the Test, taking eight wickets. Despite this impressive feat, the hope of seeing his name on the honours board at Lord’s was denied to him due to a few unfortunate umpire calls. He had said he wanted to achieve this, but unfortunately, it didn’t come to fruition. “Even I wanted to be on the Lord’s honours board. When I was at four wickets, quite a few umpire calls went against me. If even one of them had gone my way, I would have gotten my name on the honours board. But that motivates me to go there again and take a fifer.”
I was enjoying the feel of the Lord’s – Siraj
Mohammed Siraj expressed that it was a phenomenal experience to play at the iconic Lord’s, as he had watched the ground several times on television during his childhood. The Hyderabad native shared that he revealed the stadium feeling while bowling out his first few overs of the match. Commenting on his first-ever Test at the home of cricket, Siraj said:
“Earlier it was just on TV when we saw Lord’s as the home of cricket. When I arrived there, it felt different to be playing there. In the first 5-6 overs, I was just enjoying the feel of Lord’s.
“Since there is a slope from one end there, my mindset was to keep bowling in the right areas accordingly, expecting a wicket from there. I was just keeping things simple, targeting maiden overs back-to-back by bowling at a particular length, which was executed well.”
Siraj picked a total of 18 wickets in the series.