Siraj: 'When I woke up this morning, I told myself I would change the game'

When Mohammed Siraj stepped onto the boundary cushion while attempting the catch of Harry Brook, and the batter went on to score a blazing hundred, he felt the game was over. But on the fifth morning of the Test, Siraj woke up determined to make amends.

On the final day, England needed 35 runs and India four wickets. Siraj took three of those, including the final one, to give India a six-run win and help them square the series 2-2.

"I cannot describe my feelings," Siraj said after being named the Player of the Match. "After yesterday's incident, I thought the match was gone. Had we got Harry Brook out before lunch, things would have been different. There would have been no fifth day. That was a game-changing moment. But we came back strongly after that.

"When I woke up this morning, I told myself I would change the game. I opened Google, downloaded a 'believe' image, and put that as my phone wallpaper."

Siraj had Jamie Smith caught behind in the second over of the day before trapping Jamie Overton lbw in his next. After Prasidh Krishna bowled Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson tried to farm the strike and hit Siraj over wide long-on for a six. But with seven needed, Siraj rattled Atkinson's off stump with a yorker to seal the match.

"My only plan was to bowl consistently at one spot and to move the ball in and out from there," Siraj said. "I didn't want to try too much because that could have released the pressure. From day one to today, every Test went to the fifth day. So hats off to everyone in the squad for the way they fought."

Siraj was a key protagonist of this instant-classic five-match series. He played every Test and picked up 23 wickets, the most in the series. Even with the bat, he was involved in one of the most poignant moments of the series when, in the third Test at Lord's, India needed 23 to win with one wicket in hand when he defended a Shoaib Bashir delivery with the middle of the bat, but the ball rolled onto the stumps to dislodge the leg bail.

"It was a heartbreaking moment," Siraj said. "Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja] bhai was telling me not to overthink and focus on middling every ball. He told me to think about my father and how hard I have worked to get here. Unfortunately, it didn't happen."