Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj unfurled the famous ‘Siuuu’ celebration of stalwart footballer Christiano Ronaldo. Siraj celebrated his first wicket on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test versus South Africa in exactly the fashion that Ronaldo does after each of his goals.
The ‘Siuuu‘ is a Spanish word, which has originated from another Spanish word ’Si’ which means ‘Yes‘. The meaning behind the celebration was explained by Ronaldo back in 2019 and it has since caught up with the rest of the sporting world.
Siraj, clearly one of the football fans within the Indian set-up, evoked memories of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner by doing the complete celebration where he rolls himself in the air and lands like a thunderbolt after dismissing South Africa’s No.4 Rassie van der Dussen.
Dussen had only just reached the crease when, batting at 3, he was out edging the ball through to the gully region against Siraj. The ball was shaped up to go wide outside the off-stump. But Siraj still drew Dussen into a false-stroke and got him edging the ball straight to gully fielder Ajinkya Rahane.
That wicket completed a brilliant passage of play for the Indians, who drowned South Africa to 32/4 at the lunch interval on Day 3. Earlier on, Siraj’s pace partners Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami had run through the Proteas’ top 3. While Bumrah got hosts’ captain and stoic opener Dean Elgar, Shami dismissed fellow opener Aiden Markram and No.3 Keegan Petersen.
The spell on Day 3 was one of Shami’s best spells for India in Test cricket. On a day where Bumrah got injured after twisting his ankle, Siraj couldn’t retain his control after that early wicket, and allrounder Shardul Thakur sprayed the ball around for large parts, Shami almost singlehandedly kept the Proteas down with his craft and skill.
Despite a pitch where things surprisingly got easier for batting after the new ball, Shami kept plugging away whenever he came on and ended with a much-deserved five-fer (5/44) to give India a vital 130-run lead after posting 327 in the first-innings.
