Team India’s star batter Virat Kohli lit up the ODI series against Sri Lanka as he amassed 283 runs including two incredible tons and was awarded the Man of the Series award for his stellar performance.
Team India’s former batter Gautam Gambhir believes that one more Indian player equally deserved the Man of the Series award as he was on par with Virat Kohli.
Mohammed Siraj should have been the Man of the Series along with Kohli says, Gautam Gambhir
In the ODI series against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli showed glimpses of the past when scoring hundreds was like a walk in the park for the Modern Master. Virat scored two centuries in just three games at an incredible strike rate and pushed the opponent out of the game in both the first and third ODI.
However, Mohammad Siraj was equally effective with the ball as he grabbed 9 crucial wickets and never let the Sri Lankan batters set the tone for their team. India’s former opener Gautam Gambhir, thus believes that Siraj equally deserved to be the Player of the Series along with Kohli.
“For me, I think he was on par with Virat Kohli. There should have been a joint Man of the Series because he was exceptional and these were beautiful batting wickets. I know we are always tempted towards batters getting big hundreds but I think Mohammed Siraj was absolutely exceptional too in this entire series,” Gambhir told Star Sports.
“I think the hallmark is, he will get many more five-fors, it’s not about that he didn’t get it today but how good was he, especially with the new ball. In every game, he was able to set the tone,” the former batter further added.
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Mohammad Siraj was phenomenal with the new ball as he grabbed wickets with an average of 10.22. Siraj bagged four crucial wickets in the third ODI as Sri Lanka folded for a mere 73 in 22 overs allowing Team India a historic victory by a margin of 317 runs. Siraj’s improvement in the last one year has been terrific as he was the highest wicket taker in 2022 for the Men in Blue which makes him a great prospect for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
