'It's for those haters who said a lot about me': Mohammed Siraj explains reason behind his 'shush' celebration

While India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has garnered attention with his lethal bowling spells, his unique batting style, his on-field antics, and his dynamic persona, his wicket-taking celebrations have also become the talk of the town. Siraj, who has taken 7 wickets in England so far in 3 innings, has been seen raising his fingers to his mouth to celebrate wickets on multiple occassions.

On Thursday, Siraj was doing the same action after dismissing England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow. After the end of the play on Day 3, Siraj, at the press conference explained that his celebrations are a way for him to reply back to his critics.

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The celebration was about the haters who said a lot about me: that I can't do this, I can't do that. So I wanted to show only with the ball and that is the reason for this celebration," Siraj said.

The fast bowler further went on to explain why Indian pacers used bouncers on a difficult surface at Lord's on Day 3.

“There was not much help from the wicket, so we planned to use the bouncer strategy for the next eight overs, as the new ball was available after that. The plan was to bowl short balls for that small period and maybe scalp a wicket or two before getting back to traditional lines with the new ball,” Siraj said.

On being asked about his plans, the pacer said that he always tried to bowl at consistent lengths.

“Since my days of playing in the Ranji Trophy, I have always looked to bowl consistent lengths. Even today, I followed the same. My simple game plan was to keep hitting one spot consistently without experimenting much," he said.

“As we know fast bowlers play an important role in England. So as a whole unit our plan was to bowl consistently at one length. The wicket has improved very much for batting. We will try to put as many runs on the board as possible and then see what happens from there,” he signed off.