Finger-on-lips celebration is for my haters: Siraj

Mohammed Siraj celebrates the wicket of England’s Haseeb Hameed on Friday. Pic/AFP

Mohammed Siraj is taking wickets and his new mode of celebration involves an underlying message for all his critics asking them to just keep shut.

Siraj was the pick of the Indian bowlers with four wickets in his first appearance at the Lord's and he was asked about his "finger on lips" gesture after getting each and every England wicket in the second Test.

So what's the back story? "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 press conference after the third day's play.

Put into bat, India rode on KL Rahul's classy 129 to post 364 in the first innings, but England skipper Joe Root struck an unbeaten 180 to post 391 in their first essay and take a 27-run lead.

Siraj said that the plan of the fast bowlers was to be consistent and bowl in one area. He also underlined the importance of four fast bowlers in these conditions.
"It was important [to play with the 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.

Also Read: Ajinkya Rahane steadies India's ship

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliabilitsy and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever