"One of the best fast bowlers India have produced"- Former coach's massive praise for Mohammed Siraj after his heroics in ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has referred to Mohammed Siraj as one of the best fast bowlers produced by India. He made the statement after the pacer's Player of the match performance in the fifth Test against England at The Oval on Monday, August 4. Siraj took a match haul of 9/190 which helped India win the Test match by six runs.

Bangar said that Siraj had to wait for a longer period due to the presence of the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma in the playing XI. He told ESPNCricinfo:

"Any praise is too small for him (Siraj). It was a herculean effort from a guy who had to go through a lot from an earlier part of his career as well. He's learned it the hard way. Having played under the shadows of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma. He had to wait for his opportunities, but once he got those, he's made it count on numerous occasions." "Helped India to some famous victories now. Think of Lord's, Brisbane, Think of The Oval. The list can go on and on for whatever he's done. If you look slightly ahead of time and think of Mohammed Siraj, the bowler, he's already done that. To put him in that sort of category, probably one of the best fast bowlers that India have produced".

Mohammed Siraj took a five-wicket haul in England's second innings in the fifth Test. Three out of those wickets came on Day 5, when he dismissed Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, and Gus Atkinson to help win the Test match for India.

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Sanjay Bangar praises Mohammed Siraj's skillset as a bowler after his Oval heroics

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar praised Mohammed Siraj for the way he set up the top-order and the lower-order batters. He praised the manner in which the pacer used the inswinger to the top-order batters and the outswinger for the lower-order batters.

"I think the final innings at The Oval, especially, I'll go to the last day. That is how he setup a lot of the batters that he bowled to. He was bowling to tailenders. He was very surprisingly swinging the ball away from the right-handers on a consistent basis. So if you are setting up the top-order batters with the ball coming in, or more but here he used it quite sparingly to the lower-order batters. That was really creditable," he said.

Mohammed Siraj finished as the highest wicket-taker in the five-match series with 23 scalps in five Tests. Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna emerged as the joint second-highest wicket-takers for the tourists, with 14 wickets apiece.

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Edited by Aditya Singh