Mohammed Siraj claimed that he always believes in himself and Jasprit Bumrah always and said he missed the presence of the star pacer during the Oval Test win. Bumrah was rested for the match and released from the squad mid-way through the game as Siraj stepped up in his absence.

The 31-year-old picked up nine wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the second innings, as India secured a six-wicket win. Siraj famously said the line ‘I believe in Jassi bhai’ after India’s T20 World Cup win last year, but now the fans are delivering the same line for him.

Speaking to the BCCI, Siraj said that Bumrah would have given a different presence during the match.

“Every batsman, every bowler, the whole team — the way we made a comeback, it’s crazy, man. Love it. I’ll miss Jassi bhai (Jasprit Bumrah), because if he was here, it would’ve been a different presence altogether.”

“Yeah exactly — I believe in Jassi bhai and in myself,” said Siraj.

‘Almighty had something good planned’

Siraj had to bounce back on Day 5 after dropping the catch of Harry Brook when he was batting on 19. The pacer said that he did ponder about the missed chance but now feels like it was all the plan of the almighty.

“To be honest, I can’t really describe what I’m feeling right now. Yesterday, when I dropped that catch… even last night, that one catch kept playing in my mind — like, how could I miss that? If I had taken it, we wouldn’t be here today; we’d be relaxing in our rooms. But I guess the Almighty had something else planned, something good — that’s why we’re here today, and you can see the result for yourself,” said Siraj.

Siraj talked about changing his phone’s wallpaper ahead of Day 5 and said it was done to remind himself to keep believing, irrespective of the situation.

“When I woke up this morning, I had this feeling from within — that I can do it, that I can change the game today. I had so much belief that I actually went on Google, searched for a ‘believe’ emoji, and set it as my wallpaper — just to remind myself: believe, I can do this. So thank you so much to the Almighty,” said Siraj.

The Indian pacer ended the series, leading the bowling charts with 23 wickets to his name in five Tests.

– Ends