ENG vs IND | Twitter laughs as Siraj moves on from 'Jassi bhai' in heart-stirring post-match interaction

India scripted a comeback victory for the ages in London on Tuesday as they scalped four wickets for 28 runs on Day 5 to register a six-run win, their smallest margin of triumph in Test match cricket. The day had begun ominously when Jamie Overton struck boundaries off the first two balls to dwindle the required runs down to 27 but Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj struck back with aplomb, scalping two each at crucial junctures.

Siraj was particularly at his threatening best under the overcast Oval skies, delivering outswingers on a string in an unplayable spell that made the rival batters look almost amateurish. The right-arm quick was one of the reasons the game had extended thus far as the veteran had trod on the rope while grabbing a Harry Brook skier when the batter was on 19. The Yorkshireman went on to score a counter-attacking ton that completely changed the complexion of the game, until he ironically lobbed onto to Siraj himself to depart for 111 late on Day 4. Fittingly, Siraj took the winning wicket too with a brilliant yorker to Gus Atkinson, thereby completing a fifer and ending with nine wickets to be be named player of the match.

‌"I cannot describe my feelings. After yesterday's incident, I thought the match was gone. Had we got Harry Brook out before lunch, things would have been different. There would have been no fifth day. That was a game-changing moment. But we came back strongly after that," Siraj said immediately after the match.

The Hyderabad-bred, who had famously proclaimed 'I only believe in Jassi bhai' after the T20 World Cup triumph in 2024, admitted to pushing himself on Day 5 into believing he can snatch victory too under pressure. 

"When I woke up this morning, I told myself I would change the game. I opened Google, downloaded a 'believe' image and put that as my phone wallpaper," Siraj revealed.