He looks like the ultimate competitor – Ricky Ponting on Mohammed Siraj’s fiery demeanour against Australia

Mohammed Siraj was been the pick of the bowlers for India against Australia, and despite Pat Cummins’ men putting up 469 on the board, it was an inspirational performance from the Indian pacer that stood out in the World Test Championship final. 

Siraj clinched four wickets that included big wickets in Usman Khwaja and top-scorer Travis Head, while he also returned to send back the tail, removing Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins. His late resurgence saw India turning things around in quick time before their batters would come out to bat. Albeit India’s batters failing to instill hope, Siraj’s performance was lauded throughout.

There was an incident where Siraj threw the ball back at Steve Smith to make a statement of aggression. Even though the incident was deemed unnecessary and had the fans divided into a couple of factions, former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting heaped praises on Mohammed Siraj, stating that the moment is simply nothing but an act of aggression.

Talking to ICC, Ricky Ponting said, “I loved seeing that and he looks like the ultimate competitor. Maybe sometimes he gets carried away and goes a little bit over the top, but you need those guys in your side when things aren't going well. He was the one today who said I am going to be the guy that is going to turn things around and what I loved was that his pace didn't drop at all during the whole innings.”

He further added, “From the first ball yesterday morning until late this afternoon, his pace was hovering around that 86 or 87-mile-and-hour mark and that says a lot about a great attitude.”