"Would not say this was Siraj's absolute best" - Team India star's stunning statement after ENG vs IND 2025 Test series

Team India pacer Akash Deep opined that Mohammed Siraj's series-winning effort during the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy was not his best effort. The latter ended the five-match affair as the leading wicket-taker with 23 scalps after playing all five games, and was also the player of the match in the famous series-levelling win at The Oval.

Amid Jasprit Bumrah's workload concerns, and an injury crisis affecting the likes of Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj stepped up, bowling a total of 185.3 overs, the highest tally among all the bowlers in the entire series. The right-arm pacer also troubled the English batters by getting the ball the move around, extracting something out of the flat surfaces with his intensity and consistency.

However, Akash Deep remarked that he has seen Siraj bowling much better, and that his displays against England cannot be regarded as the best work of his career so far.

"He is different. If you put that kind of an effort, the result will definitely come. As far as I have been with the team, I would not say this was Siraj's absolute best. But Siraj's mindset in this series was different, because he was always talking to us, always telling us to keep believing. He kept saying, 'We have to do this, we have to do this, we have to keep believing, the three of us have to do this'," Akash Deep said in a interview with RevSportz.

Akash Deep credited his bowling partner for motivating him and the rest of the bowling unit, especially when things were getting out of hand.

"Sometimes, the way that they bat, where they step out and hit you here and there, the confidence gets hit. It's not like T20 where I can bowl a yorker or a slower one. Sometimes doubts start creeping is as to what can be done? But even in those phases, he was saying,'We have to keep bowling in good areas. It is a good ball, let them hit, they will be out that way'," Akash Deep added.

The right-arm pacer played a starring role on Day 5 of the Oval Test by getting the old ball to move around, and claiming three out of the last wickets to drive India to a famous win.

"From Day One till here, everyone fought hard" - Mohammed Siraj on Team India's performance during the England tour

Mohammed Siraj has grown to be an elemental part of India's bowling attack, especially with the management moving away from Mohammad Shami. As the second seamer, and often the spearhead of the bowling attack in Jasprit Bumrah's absence, he has made enough impact, and is now a bona fide experienced member of the side.

"From Day One till here, everyone fought hard, and then this result, we are very, very happy. The plan is simple, to keep it consistently in the right areas, and everything would take care of itself! I woke up, took a photo out of Google, saying 'Believe', and stuck to it! That dropped catch was a critical moment, had I taken that catch, it would be done much earlier," Siraj had said during the post-match presentation after the fifth Test.

Nine of his 23 wickets in the series came during the final Test at The Oval. He concluded his tour with a five-wicket haul, which was his second of the tour after his brilliant effort at Edgbaston, Birmingham, in the second Test.