IND vs SL | Siraj should have been named Player of the Series along with Kohli, feels Gambhir

Since the beginning of 2021, Mohammed Siraj has been exceptional with the ball in ODIs, with 33 wickets coming at an average of just 19.8 from 18 matches at an economy rate of 4.53. Nine of them came in the last three games during India’s just-concluded series against Sri Lanka, which came at just an average of 10.22. His stupendous performances helped India complete a 3-0 clean sweep over the neighbours.

Along with Siraj, Virat Kohli has been enjoying impressive form for a while now. Kohli had scored three ODI centuries in his last four matches, which included a magnificent 110-ball 166 not out against Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI in Thiruvananthapuram. In total, he had tallied 283 runs at an average of 141.5 and a strike rate of 137.3 to be fittingly adjudged the Player of the Series.

In a recent interaction with Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir backed Siraj for the prestigious award which was given to Kohli after the conclusion of the Sri Lanka series. The former India opener opined Siraj, whom he described as ‘absolutely exceptional’, had staged equally good performances just like how Kohli played and there should have been a joint Player of the Series award.

"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.