Brendon McCullum, the head coach of England, praised Mohammed Siraj’s tough performance in the just finished five-match Test series between India and England. With 23 wickets in nine innings, Siraj was the series’ top wicket-taker at the finish.
Even late in the fifth day of the final Test, McCullum praised Siraj’s pace and believed India had good reason to win by six runs at The Oval.
Mohammed Siraj bowled 90 mph in his 30th over of his fifth Test match, demonstrating his lion-like spirit and the way India finished this Test. It’s a pretty amazing effort. They deserved to win, even though we put themselves in a winning position in this Test match. According to ESPNcricinfo, Brendon McCullum said, “They played better cricket.”
In the series, we threw everything at them: Brendon McCullum
The former Kiwi cricket player claimed that India’s style of play demonstrated their mental toughness.
In the series, we threw everything at them. It demonstrated their collective stoicism. When they arrived in England, we knew it would be a tough test and that we would need to play outstanding cricket to get our desired outcome,” Brendon McCullum continued.
Siraj’s career-best match total of 9/190 (4/86 and 5/104) earned him the Player of the Match award. Over the course of nine innings, he bowled 185.3 overs. As McCullum said, he rarely felt like he was slowing down.
India levelled the series 2-2 and ultimately kept the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The series’ top scorer for both teams was captain Shubman Gill (754 runs in 10 innings). The two main contributors to the Indian unit were Siraj and Gill.
Later this year, in October and November, India will play two Test series at home against South Africa and the West Indies. They will be eager to improve on their performance and secure their place in the World Test Championship points standings for the 2025–2027 season.