India batting great Sachin Tendulkar lavished praise on pacer Mohammed Siraj after his bowling heroics on Day 3 of the second Test against England in Birmingham. Siraj stole the show with his fiery bowling performance as he took six wickets and leaked only 70 runs in his 19.3 overs. Apart from him, Akash Deep also took four wickets as India bundled out England for 407, taking a lead by 180 runs. Later, India ended the day at 64/1, leading by 244 runs.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Sachin lauded Siraj for his accuracy and consistency and stated that his "persistence has been rewarded."
"The biggest change I've noticed in Siraj has been his accuracy and consistency in landing the ball in the right areas. His persistence has been rewarded with 6 wickets. Very ably supported by Akash Deep as well. Well done!" Tendulkar wrote on X.
The Master Blaster further went on to praised Jamie Smith and Harry Brook's massive partnership of 303 runs.
"Special partnership between Brook and Smith who were under pressure and counterattacked beautifully to bring England much closer to India's total than one would've expected," he added.
After the day's play, Siraj credited fellow seamer Akash Deep for playing a big role in his six-wicket haul, describing the Bengal speedster as a "horse" who was just waiting for his opportunity.
Akash Deep is like a horse. He was waiting for opportunity and when the opportunity arrived he has shown how hungry he was. To be honest I enjoyed a lot bowling with him," Siraj told BCCI.TV.
"I love when given responsibility. My only goal was not to give runs from my end. I tried to bowl with control as much as possible and keep the batsmen under pressure."
Akash Deep too credited Siraj and said he enjoyed a lot sharing the new ball with him. "With the first new ball I got two wickets but Mian (Siraj) played a big role. He kept the pressure from one end," Akash Deep said.