The spirit of Raksha Bandhan was felt strongly in the cricketing fraternity, as several Indian stars took to social media to share their special moments with their sisters. From playful banter to heartfelt wishes, the posts reflected the unique bond that defines the festival. Amidst all that, a video of India pacer Mohammed Siraj celebrating the festival with Asha Bhosle’s granddaughter Zanai Bhosle is going viral on social media. In the heartfelt video, Zanai ties Rakhi on the hand of Siraj. The video was shared by Zanai in collaboration with Siraj. “Happy Rakhi. Couldn’t have asked for better,” she captioned the post.
Initially there were speculations on social media that Siraj and Zanai were dating each other. However, the duo clarified their bond by terming it a brother-sister relationship.
The England tour marked one of Siraj’s finest outings in Test cricket, topping the wicket-charts with 23 wickets and running throughout the series like a warrior for over 185 overs, undeterred, never tired. While the pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah played only three Tests owing to his workload management, it was Siraj who unleashed his ‘Miyan Magic’ when his beloved ‘Jassi Bhai’ needed some rest. Notably, Siraj was the only bowler from India and just the second in the series to play all the five Tests.
Following his exceptional performance in The Oval Test, Siraj gained his career-best ratings of 674 points, in the ICC Men’s Test Bowler Rankings on Wednesday.
Player of the Match in the fifth Test, Siraj climbed 12 places to grab 15th spot in the latest ICC Men’s Test Bowler Rankings.
This is Siraj’s highest ever position in the Test ranking, after churning out match-winning spells in the final Test against England.
(With agency inputs)