"God must have written something good for me" - Team India star on attaining success after multiple heartbreaks in ENG vs IND 2025 Tests 

Team India pacer Mohammed Siraj revealed that he trusts God's Plans after his heartbreaking moments in the series at Lord's and on Day 4 at The Oval were compensated with a fruitful win in the final Test. The bowler was at the thick of things in several defining moments during the five-match affair, which ended with a 2-2 scoreline after India's narrow six-run triumph.

Mohammed Siraj was the last wicket to fall during the heartbreaking 22-run loss during the third Test at Lord's. He was in the spotlight yet again in the series finale after he stepped on the rope after claiming a catch while Harry Brook was batting on 19. The ace batter made the most of his second life to score a sublime 111 off just 98 deliveries to spearhead England's run chase.

The Indian bowler had his moment eventually after dictating proceedings on Day 5 with three crucial wickets. He fittingly dealt the final blow to England by dismissing Gus Atkinson to seal India's win.

Siraj remarked that he questioned, 'Why Always Me?' to god after the mishaps in the series, but realised that the match extending to Day 5 was all part of god's plan.

"As you said, the dropped catch of Harry Brook, then getting out at Lord's, I don't know why god does this to only me. God must have written something good for me, that's why I got the last wicket, and this place. We had the momentum on Day 4, the ball was moving, so we thought we could bowl them out quickly on Day 4 itself. But God had a different plan, the play continued to Day 5," Siraj said during the post-match press conference (via Times of India).

Siraj has now been part of several iconic triumphs away from home. Earlier during the series, he had rated the historic Edgbaston win right alongside The Gabba and Lord's triumph in 2021. He admitted that the recent win at The Oval will undoubedly be rated right up there among the rest.

"I will certainly rate this win quite high because the fight we have shown from the first day to the fifth day of the fifth Test, it is an unbelievable fight. There was so much belief in each and everyone in the dressing room we can win the match from this situation," he added.

The win at The Oval to culminate the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar trophy is now India's narrowest win in Test cricket in terms of runs. India's previous closest margin was 13 runs, during the final Test of the 2004 Border-Gavaskar series where they defended a 104-run target.

"The way Siraj and Prasidh were bowling, we felt that we did not need the new ball" - Team India captain Shubman Gill opens up on decision to persist with old ball

The majority felt that Team India's access to the second new ball withing a couple of overs could dictate the fate of the contest. However, surprisingly, it ended up being a complete non-factor as the visitors were more than happy to operate with the old ball itself.

Both Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna were able to make the old cherry talk under overcast conditions. As a result, when India had to make a call regarding the new ball in the 80th over and beyond, they chose not to go that route.

"The way Siraj and Prasidh were bowling, we felt that we did not need the new ball. They can do the job for us even if it is an 80-over old ball. We believed that we had the wicket-taking options, there have been quite a lot of LBW and bowled on this wicket. We knew that they had to score boundaries. We'd rather let them have 30 singles rather than let them score 5-6 boundaries," Team India skipper Shubman Gill said. "We knew that they were under a lot of pressure. In that situation, the pressure would have been on the batting side only, because it is a mater of one ball, to get a wicket," he added.

Mohammed Siraj was able to consistently swing the ball away from the right-handed batters, while getting the occasional one to nip back in as well. Both variations helped him get wickets as Jamie Smith edged one to Dhruv Jurel while Jamie Overton was trapped LBW.

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Edited by Gokul Nair