India lost the Lord's Test despite a brilliant fightback by Jadeja, Bumrah and Siraj with the bat.
Mohammed Siraj talked about the devastating Lord's Test moment when he was the final India player dismissed as the visitors lost the match by 22 runs chasing 192, and how it took him a while to recover from the hurt caused by the defeat.
India needed 23 runs to win the match as Siraj and Jadeja were batting. Despite Siraj's strong defense, the ball rolled onto the stumps and knocked the bails off as Bashir was bowling with some pace.
The bowler broke down in tears after realizing that India had lost the match and was now behind 1-2 in the series. Siraj stated during the pre-Manchester Test press conference that he was confident and didn't think he would be out on the day. Siraj said it was a heartbreaking moment for him.
"Obviously, I was very sad. In that kind of match, to get out after middling—like I had a partnership with Jaddu Bhai, I felt like I wouldn’t get out. The way I was batting, I had that confidence that I can’t get out here. Whatever happens, it will be my own mistake. But unfortunately, even after middling, I got out. It was very heartbreaking. Because if we had won that match, the result would’ve been totally different," said Siraj during the pre-match presser before the Manchester Test.
Siraj claimed that because he is an emotional person, the hurt of the loss lingered with him for a very long period. But the bowler claimed that the battle between Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah that day inspired him, since he believes the series is still in play and he will concentrate more on his batting in the future.
"It stayed for a long time. Because the match was like that. In 2021, too, I took the last wicket. Then again, to be in that situation, I’m a very emotional person. Because in such a situation, when I got out—I mean, if we had won, the series would be 2-1.
But at that time, Jaddu Bhai fought so well, and even Jassi Bhai played 54 balls. Such a fight, but in the end, it was a loss. After so much hard work, I thought, no, the series isn’t over yet; it’s still 2-1. That gave me a boost that I’ll do even better and focus on my batting. Because when we go overseas, runs from tailenders are very important. Even when we went to Australia the last two times, we always thought that, as much as possible, we should make runs from the bottom. So, since then, we have been working hard on our batting," Siraj added.
Siraj continued by saying that the squad was most hurt by their near-loss at Lord's, but they are now optimistic about moving on with the series at 1-2.
"Nobody said anything, just 'good fight.' Because at one point it felt like we’d lose by 80 runs, but we fought so much that we took it to tea. That was the biggest thing. If we had lost by 80 runs, it’d feel different. But we lost by just 22 runs, came so close—it was heartbreaking. But it’s 2-1 now, so the series will be fun," Siraj concluded.
The fourth Test will begin in Manchester on July 23.
(ANI inputs)