Mohammed Siraj ends BGT on high note, enters 100 Test wickets club

Sydney [Australia], January 5 (ANI): India’s experienced speedster Mohammed Siraj joined the 100 Test wicket club on Day 3 of the fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Siraj entered the exclusive club after forcing out an outside edge from set-batter Usman Khawaja to claim his 100th victim in Test format. He became the 23rd player for India to achieve the feat. In the World Test Championship, Siraj became the latest player for India to take 100 wickets after Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.

In Bumrah’s absence, Siraj spearheaded the attack and bowled in tandem with Prasidh Krishna. With a shining kookaburra in his hand, a dream start from the Indian team was expected but it never came.

The pressure played tricks on Siraj’s mind and eventually got the better of him. He forgot his line and lengths and gave away 13 runs in the opening over.

His underwhelming run didn’t help India’s case to save the series and their chances of qualification for the World Test Championship final.

In the first innings, he returned with a three-wicket haul while conceding 51 runs in his 16-over spell. But in his second turn, the 30-year-old failed to replicate his heroics in the first innings and managed to pick up a sole scalp while conceding 69 runs in his 12-over spell.

The six-wicket defeat at the SCG brought an end to 45 days of riveting cricket, with the BGT returning to Australia with a 3-1 series success.

Siraj ended the five-Test affair with 20 wickets to his name with an average of 31.15 and an economy of 3.96. He was the fourth-highest wicket-taker across both teams.

Overall, in 36 Tests and 67 innings, Siraj has managed to pick up 100 Test wickets at an average of 30.74 and an economy of 3.47.

India eventually succumbed to a 3-1 defeat and lost the BGT for the first time in 10 years. With the six-wicket defeat in Sydney, India’s chances of reaching the World Test Championship final for the third successive time also ended. Australia will now defend its title against South Africa at the Lord’s on June 11.