India pacer Mohammed Siraj’s lion-hearted effort during the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England continues to earn him plaudits.

Siraj put his body on the line and played all five games in the hard-fought series, finishing as the leading wicket-taker. His grit was evident in the 1113 deliveries he bowled, picking up 23 wickets at an average of 32.43.

Nearly two months later, Siraj has revealed that skipper Shubman Gill asked him ahead of the fifth Test if his body was fine, and the fast bowler replied with a trademark ‘ekdum first class’ that gave the Indian captain a lot of confidence.

Speaking to The Indian Express in an Idea Exchange, Siraj said if there had been one more Test on the tour of England, he would have feature in it as well.

“Shubman Gill asked me, ‘Kaisi hai teri body?’ (How is your body?). I said, ‘Ekdum first-class’. He asked me if I would play. I said yes. He said, You are the main bowler for us, like Jasprit Bumrah, you decide," Siraj narrated.

“I said I am available and am 100 per cent fit. I will give it everything. As for my body being tired, to be honest, I would have played one more Test if it were there. I did not feel tired," he added.

When India needed crucial wickets, Siraj stepped up, often stretching his spells to ensure smoother rotation. With Jasprit Bumrah playing only three Tests to manage his workload, the 31-year-old took on the mantle of leading India’s pace attack.

On the final day of the Oval Test, the hosts were 35 runs away from chasing a 374-run target, with four wickets in hand. However, Siraj once again lifted his game under pressure, returning with five wickets to propel the visitors to a narrow six-run victory, thereby ending the series in a 2-2 draw.

“It was a script written for me from somewhere up there. From getting bowled in Lords (the Test that India lost), then reaching the Oval. Then I took a catch (of Harry Brook) and touched the boundary," Siraj remarked.