Shubman Gill lauds Mohammed Siraj after Oval win, says he is captain’s dream

Indian captain Shubman Gill heaped praise on Mohammed Siraj after the visitors secured a humdinger win of six runs against England at the Kennington Oval, London on Monday. Siraj returned with figures of 5-104 in the second innings to help India register a memorable win.

On the final day’s play, Siraj bagged three out of the four remaining English wickets. Siraj accounted for Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, and Gus Atkinson to help the visitors steal a win from the jaws of defeat.

The 31-year-old had also returned with figures of 4-86 in the first innings and had helped the team bounce back in the second session of the second day’s play. 

Siraj ended the series as the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps at an average of 32.43. The fast bowler delivered a total of 185.3 overs in the five-match series but gave his absolute best in every spell.

On asked by Michael Atherton if Mohammed Siraj is a captain’s dream, Gill said in the post-match presentation, Yes, definitely. He is a captain’s dream. Coming in five Test matches, every ball, every spell that he bowled gave his all out and every captain, every team wants a player like him. We are very fortunate to have him in that team.

The series ended in a 2-2 scoreline, and Gill said it was a fair result as the series was fought tooth and nail by both teams.

Gill added, “Yeah, most definitely. Like I said, both the teams coming on day five never really knowing which team is going to win. This shows how passionate both the teams were and how much of good cricket both the teams played throughout the series.”

The Indian captain amassed 754 runs in the five-match series at an outstanding average of 75.4 and thus led from the front.

Gill said he worked hard on his game before the series. He said, “It feels very rewarding to be able to achieve that (being the best batter of the series). I worked pretty hard before the start of the series. There were certain things that I wanted to work on as a batsman and it was my goal to be able to be the best batter of the series. And to be able to accomplish that goal feels very satisfying and rewarding.”

Gill would have certainly grown in confidence as a leader as well as a batter after the five-match Test series against England.