Yashasvi Jaiswal topped the list of batters with the most runs in the India-West Indies Test series, and Ravindra Jadeja picked up 8 wickets in addition to scoring 105 runs in two Tests. But despite that, both of them were ignored, along with Captain Shubman Gill, who registered scores of 50, 129* and 13 runs, and Kuldeep Yadav (12 wickets in two matches), for India’s Impact Player of the Series award.
Instead of them, the award was won by Mohammed Siraj.
Siraj played both the Tests for India and picked up a total of 10 wickets. In the first innings of the Test series opener at Narendra Modi Stadium from October 2 to 4, Siraj accounted for the dismissal of four West Indies batters and then got rid of three more in the second.
Whereas in the second
Test, which concluded on Tuesday (October 14) with India’s 7-wicket win, Siraj picked up a total of three wickets (1 in the 1st innings, 2 in the 2nd innings).
Tamil Nadu’s Narayan Jagadeesan, who was the newest member in India’s Test squad for the West Indies squad, praised Siraj and said that he was impeccable throughout the series.
“Obviously there have been a lot of performances in the series, great performances, but now it’s just about one guy who has been impeccable throughout the series, who has had a lot of vigour, courage and aggression every time the ball was thrown to him. First innings, second innings, third spell, or even, for example, the wicket that we played on today, he was so good; every time he came there he had the same, and more importantly, I think he was probably the one when there was good effort on the field; he was the first one to go and pat everyone on their back and encourage them, so the Impact Player of the series is Mohammed Siraj,” Jagadeesan said in a video shared by BCCI on their social media handles.
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Upon winning the prize, Siraj said that it’s a really nice feeling to win the impact player of the season award.
“This series went very well, honestly. When we played in Ahmedabad, there was a lot of help for the fast bowlers. Then we came to Delhi, and we had to bowl a lot of overs here. Every wicket felt like taking five wickets because as a fast bowler, when you are rewarded after putting in the effort, you get a lot of confidence. And you also feel happy because you’re winning the impact player of the dressing room. So it feels really nice,” Siraj said.
“When you achieve something, as a person, you feel very proud. I will continue to deliver similar performances because my favourite format is Test cricket. There are a lot of challenges in this. You have to be on the ground all day, physically and mentally. You feel very proud in a very different way. It’s a lot of fun,” he added.
