[Watch] Mohammed Siraj gestures "1-0" to English crowd trolling him for India's performance
Mohammed Siraj isn't among those to back down from a fight, no matter how bad his and his team's performances have been on the day. So when the English crowd at Headingley tried to get under his skin on Wednesday, the pugnacious pacer made it a point to remind them India are still leading the series 1-0.
A person from the stands reportedly threw a pink plastic ball at Mohammed Siraj at the boundary during the 39th over of England's first innings. The Hyderabad lad turned around at the hecklers after a delivery and replied with a gesture of "1-0" with both his hands directed towards them.
Here's a video of the same:
The incident once again brought to the fore Mohammed Siraj's combative attitude that has been a key ingredient behind his success so far. It helped the visitors win at Lord's, where the speedster had picked up four critical wickets on the final day, including the final scalp of James Anderson.
Given the match situation, India will need a lot more of this passion on Day 2 - skills over gestures this time - if they have to turn it around.
Tough day for Mohammed Siraj and Team India
Right from the start of Day 1, Team India struggled to put a single step right at Headingley.
Their opening partnership didn't flourish for the first time in the series; the middle order put up a long-time-coming horrendous show; Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja failed to mitigate any damage as well. The result was a platry 78 all-out in the first innings.
In reply, the umpteenth English opening pair clicked and dovetailed perfectly against an indisciplined Ishant Sharma and an ever-unlucky Mohammed Shami to record a 42-run lead without any damage.
Mohammed Siraj was brought into the attack quite late. Despite bowling with heart, he couldn't provide the required breakthrough and ended up with figures of 7-1-26-0.