In a typically big-hearted bowling performance that we have to come to expect from him, Mohammed Siraj brought India back into the fifth and final Test match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. At one point earlier in the day, it appeared the Bazball-ing English openers were definitively pushing India out of contention from the match at The Oval with their blistering approach at the start of their reply to India’s 224 all out. Even Siraj was at the receiving end of the boundary barrage early on, but in a post-lunch spell of high intensity and accurate lengths, the pacer helped India claw their way back. First, in one spell, he accounted for the big wickets of Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Jacob Bethell – all out LBW. He returned later to end England innings with the wicket of Harry Brook.
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Siraj now has 203 wickets in 101 appearances for India across the 3 formats combined, becoming the 15th pace bowler from the country to achieve the feat. Leading the chart is, of course, the legendary former India captain Kapil Dev with 687 wickets in 356 international appearances. At No 2, just three short of 600 on 597 is the left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan. Javagal Srinath is the only other Indian pacer with more than 500 wickets, at 551. In the 400-wicket club are Mohammed Shami (462), Jasprit Bumrah (457), Ishant Sharma (434). Following them is current national chief selector Ajit Agarkar on 349, who is in the 300-club with Irfan Pathan. The others in the bracket between 200-300 are Bhuvneshwar Kumar (292), Umesh Yadav (288), Manoj Prabhakar (253), Ashish Nehra (233), and Hardik Pandya (202).
That’s massive! 💥
Mohammed Siraj gets the huge breakthrough, Joe Root is gone!#ENGvIND 👉 5th TEST, DAY 2 | LIVE NOW on JioHotstar pic.twitter.com/SsOchMIRoq
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) August 1, 2025
Siraj, with his four-for, also became the leading wicket-taker in the series with 18 to his name, one ahead of Ben Stokes on 17 – the England captain won’t be adding to the tally as he is not playing the fifth Test.
Continuing the back and forth theme of the entire series, India recovered from England’s pre-lunch batting assault and their own morning collapse to force themselves right back into contention in a match they have to win to save the series with England leading 2-1.
India vs England 5th Test Match – Live Cricket Score, Full Scorecard
Rollercoaster
England set about their reply in their usual, swashbuckling fashion, exemplified by an extraordinary “reverse hook” for six by Ben Duckett off Deep. They reached their 50 opening partnership in seven overs – the fastest England have ever managed in a test – but fell just short of the 100 as Duckett was caught behind reversing for 43.
They were 109-1 at lunch but Zak Crawley seemed to get frustrated as he struggled to reproduce his morning form and was out for 64 after a mis-hit pull off Krishna. Stand-in captain Ollie Pope soon followed for 22 as DRS agreed with India’s lbw appeal after a sharp cut-back ball by Siraj. Joe Root brought his usual calmness to proceedings, despite what appeared a pre-determined tactic from the Indians to get under his skin.
There then followed a gripping session as India’s bowlers pounded in, well aware that a couple more wickets could tilt the match in their favour, while England’s powerful middle-order knew if they could establish a partnership or two then the odds were against India finding a way to win. Siraj got the key wicket of Root, lbw for 29, to bring 21-year-old Jacob Bethell to the crease for his first home test. He crunched one fabulous square-cut four but the ever-willing Siraj pinned him with a swinging yorker next ball for his third lbw of the day.
(With Reuters inputs)
