Mohammed Siraj was the man for India in the Asia Cup 2023 final as the pacer, who had a middling tournament so far, came back to his best when his team needed the most - in the summit clash. Sri Lanka were already feeling the pressure after losing Kusal Perera in the very first over and a couple of overs later, Siraj breathed fire.
Siraj was on the money from the start and missed his hat trick just by a bit. He got out Pathum Nissanka on the very first delivery of the fourth over followed by the wickets of Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka on third and fourth delivery. On the hat-trick ball, Siraj was hit for a boundary by Dhananjaya de Silva and the bowler took the onus on himself to chase after the ball.
The chase wasn't as fruitful as Siraj first thought it to be as the ball eventually reached the boundary but him running all the way to the boundary from the bowling crease left his teammates in splits, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill in the slip cordon couldn't control their laughter while Hardik Pandya also had a hearty laugh.
The video has gone viral on the internet. Watch it here:
Siraj also had a smile and the run didn't matter as he came back on the final delivery to dismiss Dhananjaya de Silva and take his fourth wicket in the over. Siraj took a couple of more wickets to end with the figures of 6/21, which was the fourth best for India in ODIs and second best in ODI Asia Cup history.
Siraj, who won the player of the match, said, "The wicket was seaming earlier, but there was swing today. Thought that I will bowl fuller because of the swing. When there's good bonding between fast bowlers, it's helpful for the team. I was thinking it would be great if I could stop the boundary. My best spell."
