India pacer Mohammed Siraj on Saturday (August 14) opened up about his ‘finger on lips’ celebration style, saying it is for all the haters who have doubted him.

Siraj was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he claimed four scalps in England’s first innings at Lord’s. After each wicket, the 27-year-old put a finger on his lips as if to silence someone with his performance.

“This story (celebration) is for the haters (critics) because they used to say a lot of things about me, like he cannot do this and cannot do that. So, I will only let my ball do the talking and hence this is my new style of celebration,” Siraj said at the virtual post-day press conference after the third day’s play of the second Test.

During the 69th over of England’s innings, someone from the crowd threw bottle corks on the field near KL Rahul on the boundary.

The antics of unruly crowd left the Indian skipper Virat Kohli furious and he signalled Rahul to throw the stuff back to the spectators in the stands.

When asked about the incident, Siraj said he was unaware about it.

“I did not actually notice what happened but nothing (offensive) was said by the public,” he maintained.

Riding on skipper Joe Root’s 180*, England posted 391/10 in the first innings, taking a handy lead of 27 runs over India.

Apart from Siraj, Ishant Sharma (3-69) and Mohammad Shami (2-95) picked up five scalps between them while Jasprit Bumrah remained wicketless.

Siraj revealed that the plan of the fast bowlers was to be consistent and bowl in one area.

“It was important (to play with fourth fast bowler), because we have taken three wickets at the start and our fast bowlers were effective and bowling consistently in one area.

“The role of fast bowlers is important in England because when you come to England, you want to try things, but our plan here was to be consistent and bowl at one place,” he said.

(With PTI inputs)