Tottenham Hotspur’s unbeaten run across all competitions has now extended to three games across all competitions after Tuesday’s Champions League win over Slavia Prague.

The Lilywhites claimed a superb 3-0 victory in Europe after penalties from Mohammed Kudus, Xavi Simons and an own goal from opposition defender David Zima.

Thomas Frank looks to have finally found a winning formula, as seen in recent weeks, after previously failing to win in any five matches, four of which came in the Premier League.

Some may argue that the Dane is starting to get the best out of his current playing squad, with a period of adaptation evidently needed after his summer appointment.

However, despite the three-goal triumph in North London last night, the manager will no doubt have seen some glaring flaws that will need correcting in the weeks ahead.

Spurs's biggest underperformers against Slavia Prague

After starting each of the last four games on the substitutes bench, winger Wilson Odobert was handed the chance to start from the off against Slavia Prague.

However, the Frenchman struggled to make the desired impact, as seen by his tally of 86% duels lost, leading to his withdrawal in the 76th minute of the clash.

Other figures, such as zero dribbles completed and two big chances missed in the final third, also highlight his lack of positive impact despite Frank’s faith shown in the youngster.

He wasn’t alone in struggling to deliver during the win, with Pedro Porro unable to produce the regular attacking quality the fanbase have become accustomed to in recent years.

The Spaniard only managed to complete one of his five attempted crosses, whilst completing just 66% of the passes he attempted – largely being ineffective when in possession.

He also failed to win any tackles against the Czech side, whilst failing to complete any of his attempted dribbles – showcasing his lack of quality at both ends of the pitch in North London.

Spurs star needs to be dropped after Slavia Prague

Spurs have spent heavily over the last couple of years to try and be competitive in the Premier League and try and compete for titles under Frank in the years ahead.

In the recent summer alone, the Lilywhites hierarchy backed the manager with over £120m worth of funds to make an immediate impact during his first year at the helm.

Xavi Simons was just one of the additions made by the hierarchy during the off-season, but he’s struggled to make an impact across various competitions in recent months.

He went 17 games without a goal until last week, but the Dutch star has started to find his feet – as seen by his tally of two goals in his last two games for the Lilywhites.

The same can’t be said for striker Richarlison, who has constantly struggled for consistency after his own £50m transfer from Everton back in the summer of 2022.

The Brazilian international has been Frank’s starting centre forward for the majority of 2025/26 to date, subsequently managing to net a total of seven goals across all competitions.

Whilst such a tally may seem respectable, he’s often gone missing in major moments this campaign, as seen against Slavia Prague in the meeting on Tuesday.

He was once again handed a start at the top end of the pitch, but he was unable to provide the goods in front of goal and was subsequently replaced in the 68th minute.

Richarlison was only able to register a measly tally of 22 touches, a tally fewer than goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who managed 50 – showcasing his lack of impact in North London.

Minutes played

68

Touches

22

Passes completed

9

Possession lost

7x

Big chances missed

1

Aerials won

50%

Passes into final third

1

Fouls committed

2

He also only managed to complete nine passes and lost possession on seven separate occasions, further highlighting his lack of positive impact during the Champions League clash.

The Brazilian also missed one big chance in front of goal and won just 50% of his aerial battles, often struggling to provide the focal point Frank has massively craved.

As a result of his showing, the striker was handed a measly 6/10 match rating by Football London’s Alasdair Gold, further showcasing his struggles in North London.

After such a showing, Frank must certainly be left with no choice but to drop the forward and hand the likes of Mathys Tel and Randal Kolo Muani the chance to stake their claim for the number nine role.

Richarlison has no doubt been a decent option for Spurs over the last couple of years, but it’s becoming increasingly evident week on week that he’s not at the level needed for success.

Frank's new Mbeumo: Paratici set to make Spurs bid to sign "world-class" CF

Tottenham Hotspur could be about to land a new talisman in the upcoming January window.

ByEthan Lamb 3 days ago

Seven-wicket haul sets up hosts only for familiar batting failures to hand back initiative

Alex Malcolm21-Nov-20252:46

Starc: My role is to be aggressive, take wickets

On any other day Mitchell Starc would have been the lone shining star.A wicket in the first over of an Ashes series, again. A career-best 7 for 58 to destroy England, again. His second career-best figures in as many Test bowling innings. His 100th wicket in Ashes cricket. Two stunning deliveries to remove Test cricket’s second-highest scorer for a seven-ball duck and England’s talismanic captain for just 6. His 17th Test five-for, his fifth against England to bowl the visitors out for 172 in 32.5 frantic overs after they had elected to bat.But when he stood in front of the media at 6.20pm local time, his bowling performance felt like it took place a week ago after an Ashes record 19 wickets had fallen. He was instead left to lament a carbon copy collapse to the one Australia experienced 12 months ago on the same ground against India, answer questions on Usman Khawaja’s fitness, and contemplate the prospect of having to carry his team on his shoulders with the ball again day two after a short turnaround.”[The game is] probably [in] fast-forward, I guess,” Starc said. “It’s happening quickly.”Related

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Amid the chaos, Starc deserves his flowers. It was very clear after the interminable build-up that most players on both sides were incredibly nervous. It would have been easy for Starc to fall into that camp, having to lead an attack that had neither Pat Cummins nor Josh Hazlewood in it for the first time at home since 2022. When both men will return remains unknown. Cummins has said he is hopeful to be fit for Brisbane, but Hazlewood is unavailable until further notice, with concerns about his chances of returning at all quietly growing.But Starc said he had no nerves.”Not really actually, strangely quite calm for the week,” he said. “Even till we got to the ground, still had the sense of occasion, but until we were out there for the anthems, and then first ball was when sort of the beans start to go.”He held his nerve when all about him were losing theirs even when the beans started to go. There was no Rory Burns moment, as Zak Crawley defended an excellent first delivery to a groan from the 43,591 who had made it through the gate before the start of play. They witnessed a masterclass with Starc’s next five. Crawley was not given any width or length to work with. He flashed once and missed. He tried again last ball and nicked it to Khawaja at slip. England were 0 for 1 after the first over of the series for the third time in the last five Ashes in Australia.Scott Boland struggled to find his length with new ball at the other end with England, and specifically Ben Duckett, collaring him in prophetic fashion at six-an-over.Duckett looked sharp, but Starc was sharper, zipping through a 142.6kph thunderbolt to pin him plumb lbw.Mitchell Starc made an early impression on the series•AFP/Getty ImagesThen came Joe Root, with so much expectation on him to break his century drought in Australia. Starc ensured he didn’t get off the mark. Using the wobble-seam delivery he’s perfected in the latter stages of his career, he angled into leg on a good length at 142.8kph and nipped it across. One of the greatest players of this generation got turned inside out like a pretzel as he nicked it to third slip.Not a single delivery in the 35-year-old’s first spell was under 140kph, and he had figures of 6-3-17-3. At lunch he had figures of 8-4-24-3, while the rest of Australia’s attack had returns of 15-1-76-1.After lunch he continued his solo carnage. Ben Stokes dropped to one knee, fist on the ground for balance, staring at the pitch in front of him and daring not to look back at his splayed stumps behind. Starc had snaked a ball back through his gate at 140.9kph to spark another almighty roar from the Perth fans. He has now dismissed Stokes 10 times in Test cricket in 22 meetings for a cost of just 190 runs.His fifth was inevitable. Gus Atkinson meekly nicked to slip. He had claimed all five with his wobble-seam deliveries, nicking three right-handers with balls nipping away, and dismissing two left-handers with balls snaking in. It was a showcase of his skill and development across the course of 101 Tests, to have such a huge impact when then was no trademark conventional swing on offer.”[The ball] was a bit like a hockey puck,” Starc said. “It was out of shape pretty early. I don’t think it was going to swing at all. It didn’t really stay on axis. So those wobbles seemed to be the one to work for most guys through the day. I’ve said it before, but two of my best mates are two of the best exponents of it in the world. So to learn off Josh and Pat, I think I said it a while ago, but if I’d listened to those two a bit earlier, might have had it in the repertoire a little bit earlier.”He was gifted the last two wickets for his first career seven-for but it was no less than he deserved. However, by the evening session, his mighty performance had been lost in the chaos of Australia’s batting. Jofra Archer saw Starc’s low-140kph thunderbolts and raised it up towards 150kph. Brydon Carse borrowed the wobble seam and added steepling bounce to make it unplayable. Stokes added the finishing touches to leave Australia 123 for 9 after another Perth collapse. But Starc refused to throw his batters under the bus.Joe Root was picked off for a duck by Mitchell Starc•Getty Images”I think we often sit here and see, last year it was a 17-wicket day, this year it’s 19 wickets, we often sit here and say, it’s the wicket or it’s the batting, but I think both teams bowled really well,” Starc said.”I’m sure both teams probably want to change, perhaps, their approach. But sometimes you can sit there and say, it’s pretty good bowling from both teams.”He’s not wrong. The standard of bowling was exceptional. But some of the batting from Australia deserves to be questioned. The shots of Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey and Starc himself were not mistakes forced by great deliveries. They were perhaps forced by the overall pressure England’s cadre of quicks created. But it was another example of Australia’s batting letting their bowling down. It’s left Starc contemplating another big shift on day two off not much rest.”It is what it is,” Starc said. “Sometimes you’re faced with that. I’ve played long enough to have trained the body to need to do that if I have to. Obviously, you always like to sit back and watch your team bat. Sometimes you have short turnarounds.”It’s just the nature of Test cricket and a tough day’s work for both batting groups.”

Jamie Carragher believes Mohamed Salah's anti-Liverpool tirade was a "disgrace" and accused him of causing "maximum damage" with his outburst. The 33-year-old stated that the Reds have "thrown him under the bus" after being repeatedly benched by manager Arne Slot, while arguing that he deserves a place in their starting line-up. But Carragher feels the Egyptian is trying to get Slot sacked.

• Salah goes on the attack

  Shortly after being an unused substitute in Liverpool's 3-3 draw at Leeds United on Saturday, Salah said he no longer had a relationship with manager Arne Slot, that the club was throwing him under the bus and that someone at the Merseyside outfit wanted him to "get all of the blame". In response, Slot claimed he did not feel that his authority was being undermined by the former Chelsea man but said he had "no clue" whether Salah had played his last game for the Reds. For the time being, however, the veteran will not be part of Liverpool's squad travelling to Italy to take on Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday. Salah has been heavily criticised for his comments, and now Liverpool legend Carragher has taken aim at him, too.

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• Carragher tears into Salah

  Last season, Carragher and Salah got into a war of words after the latter said he was "probably more out than in" as his Liverpool contract ticked down into its final eight months. This prompted Carragher to call him "selfish", before the forward eventually signed a new two-year deal. That feud looked set to escalate earlier this season after Carragher called on Salah to front up more and face the media amid their poor run. Now, he has torn the Egyptian a new one following his eye-opening comments.

  He said on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football: "I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game. Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst. I don’t think it was. I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he’s done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it’s choreographed with him and his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position. He did that 12 months ago, and I called him out on it. He played on the heartstrings of the Liverpool supporters. Liverpool were top of the league, he’d scored the winning goal at Southampton, and that was the time to come out and put pressure on the Liverpool ownership. He’s chosen this weekend to do this, and he’s waited, I think, to choose a bad result for Liverpool. Supporters, the manager, everyone at the club feels like they’re in the gutter and he’s chosen that time to go for the manager and maybe get him sacked." 

• 'All about me, me, me'

  Carragher did not stop there. He accused Salah himself of throwing Liverpool under the bus, rather than the other way around. The former defender also suggested the ex-Roma ace was thinking only about himself and not his team-mates.

  "The one line that stands out for me is ‘thrown under the bus’. He’s thrown the club under the bus twice in the last 12 months. With the manager right now, he should be doing as much as he can to help the club get out of the worst run they’ve had since the 1950s, and he hasn’t done that," he said. "You weren't a big star before you came to Liverpool, you haven't really won much for Egypt, no matter how big you are, you need help from your team-mates, your manager and fans, it's important that he remembers that. When he talks after Leeds, it's all about me, me, me."

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  What comes next for Salah?

  With Salah not set to be part of the Liverpool side facing Inter, his last game before heading off with Egypt to the Africa Cup of Nations will be against Brighton in the Premier League this weekend. It remains to be seen if he will feature in that contest, though.

Inter Miami claimed MLS Cup, but will face an offseason of uncertainty with a number of key players surely on the way out in the coming months.

You can finally breathe now. MLS playoffs is over. It's done. And the game was a fitting climax to what has been a gripping playoffs. Inter Miami came out on top, winning 3-1 in a game that was really far closer than the scoreline suggests. A bit of luck, a bounce here and there, and the Vancouver Whitecaps could have easily lifted the trophy. Then again, Miami have this little guy named Lionel Messi who can turn games in an instant – and that's more or less what happened. 

But what happens now? The season is over, and such is the chaos of MLS that Miami, who won the whole thing, will likely undergo a significant rebuild this offseason. Half of their starting XI could be gone within a few weeks. There is room for another Designated Player, is the Neymar rumor legit?

Vancouver, the runner-ups, won’t splash like Miami and still have issues to solve, but they’re close – one signing away from being champions themselves. And if they stumble, others are ready. LAFC have Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga. San Diego FC reached a conference final in their debut season. And there is competition in the East, too. Everything looks as tasty as ever, and GOAL U.S. writers break it down in another edition of… .

GettyHow important was it for Lionel Messi to win MLS Cup?

Tom Hindle: Once he got there, very important. If Messi had left MLS with zero MLS Cups, it would leave room for the haters to continue to hate. Failing to win without making it to the final would be a bad look. But getting there and falling short in the last game of the season? Yikes. Good thing he was the sole difference maker then! 

Ryan Tolmich: Extremely important. Everything is gravy now that the big ole trophy isn't hanging over his head. He has the individual accolades, obviously, but now has the big domestic team ones, too – outside of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. There is no denying that his tenure has been an overwhelming success now that there's no big "but" hanging over him or Inter Miami. Now, the focus turns to seeing how much further he can push boundaries before he inevitably calls it a day.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWere Miami deserved winners on the day?

TH: Honestly? Not quite. Vancouver dominated for the best part of an hour – something Mascherano admitted in his post-match presser. The Herons were on the back foot for most of the game and won it, in effect, thanks to three moments of magic from the best to ever do it. 

RT: Absolutely. They did exactly what they had to do early on the attacking end, withstood the Whitecaps' push and, ultimately, put the game to bed with a late goal. That's what champions do, and that's why Messi and co. lifted the trophy this weekend.

Getty ImagesCan Messi and Miami repeat?

TH: Is it possible? Certainly. But there are plenty of other good teams out there who will surely strengthen this offseason. LAFC are a player away, while Vancouver aren't far behind. FC Cincinnati will also be in the mix. If Miami get their offseason right, they will certainly be favorites. But nothing is guaranteed. 

RT: Let's see what their offseason looks like first. If these playoffs taught them anything, it's that the recipe for getting the most out of Messi is surrounding him with young, hungry stars that can do the running he can't anymore. Is that as fun as playing with your best friends? Not quite, but it is infinitely more successful. Let's see if they stick with that vibe in the interest of winning.

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(C)Getty ImagesHow much of a rebuild do Miami need this offseason?

TH: Half of their team could be gone within a couple of weeks. Alba and Busquets are already out. Suarez likely is, too. Meanwhile, Baltasar Rodriguez, Tadeo Allende, and Rocco Rios Novo are in on loan. one or two of those get made permanent, but that still leaves some gaping holes. Honestly, it depends on the Messi effect.

RT: A significant one. They're going to lose at least two key pieces in Busquets and Alba, while Suarez appears to be on the way out, too. Players like Baltasar Rodriguez, Tadeo Allende, and Rocco Rios Novo are all on loan, as is Rodrigo De Paul, although he seems almost certain to stay. Either way, the club has plenty of spots to fill and, of course, they have the best draw in the world to fill them: Messi.

New Zealand fast bowler Ben Sears will have a stint in Victoria Premier cricket in Melbourne as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury.He will play six games – five T20s and a 50-over one-dayer – for Melbourne University Cricket Club with the hope he will then be available for the start of the Super Smash competition with Wellington in late December. Should Sears be fit he will be in New Zealand’s plans for the T20 World Cup in February.Related

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Sears, 27, has been sidelined since the T20I series against Australia in early October having had a previous hamstring injury which ruled him out of the Champions Trophy in February. The decision has been made to send him to Melbourne due to a lack of short-form cricket currently being played in New Zealand with the Plunket Shield taking place.”Ben has missed a large portion of cricket in two out of the last three summers, so it was important for him to get as much cricket as possible on grass wickets leading into his Super Smash return,” New Zealand coach Rob Walter said.”He’s a big part of our future plans and with an important period of T20 cricket ahead of us, we want to ensure Ben has the safest and most appropriate return to play plan in place. He’s been progressing well and we’re looking forward to seeing how he gets on in Melbourne.”Sears, who has played one Test, four ODIs and 22 T20Is, is one of a number of New Zealand’s quicks who have recently been sidelined. Will O’Rourke is continuing his recovery from a back stress fracture, Lockie Ferguson has had a hamstring problem and Adam Milne an ankle injury. Kyle Jamieson, meanwhile, is having his comeback from a back injury carefully managed.Their has depth has been on show in recent white-ball series against West Indies and England with Jacon Duffy, Zak Foulkes and Blair Tickner all impressing.

South Africa have lost six of their previous seven Tests in India

Sidharth Monga13-Nov-20252:04

Bangar: South Africa’s spin-bowling allrounders will be critical

Big picture: World Test Champions’ toughest testThe variety of conditions Test cricket offers is evident from how the format’s world champions, South Africa, have not been able to even compete in their previous seven Tests in India, the country of their next challenge. They lost six of those Tests comprehensively, and were on their way in the seventh but for the rain.Even within India, South Africa have struggled in a variety of conditions. In 2015-16, they were outdone by a young side for whom the team management considered raging turners a necessity. Then, in 2019-20, against an established home team, South Africa were blanked by huge margins on good batting surfaces that had nothing for the home spinners, who averaged 27.18 compared to their fast bowlers’ 17.50.The world champions make this trip in 2025-26 not with any significant new faces in their attack but with more experience, and thus more equipped to compete during what has to be South Africa’s toughest tour. Keshav Maharaj was their lead spinner on the previous tour too. Simon Harmer toured in 2015-16. Senuran Muthusamy played two Tests in 2019-20. Kagiso Rabada remains the banker fast bowler.Related

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South Africa will also hope that India, who suffered a shock loss against New Zealand last year and are still a team in transition, still haven’t nailed the method to win home Tests. They blanked West Indies earlier this season, but they weren’t entirely invulnerable.Still, South Africa will need nearly everything to go their way to win a Test on this tour, just like it did for New Zealand last year. While India are currently third on the WTC points table, having drawn 2-2 in England and beaten West Indies 2-0, South Africa have only just begun their title defence with a 1-1 draw in Pakistan last month.Form guideIndia: WWWDL
South Africa: WLWWWShubman Gill has been hopping formats frequently since September•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight: Keshav Maharaj and Shubman GillKeshav Maharaj comes to India with experience of 60 Tests; he’s second only to Ravindra Jadeja among left-arm spinners in Test cricket. With India unlikely to offer square turners or assistance for traditional seam bowling, Maharaj will have to bear a heavy workload, and provide wickets and control.Starting September, India’s newest all-format star Shubman Gill has had no break. He got three days, including the travel day, between the T20 Asia Cup in the UAE and the first Test against West Indies in India. Then just four days to travel to Australia and switch to ODIs before going back to playing T20Is in three days. After that, a five-day break, which included travel from eastern Australia to eastern India to captain the team in an important series. Gill is young and fit, and must be itching to play as much as he can, but keep an eye on how well he readjusts to the longest format.Team news: Jurel and Pant both set to playAgainst West Indies, India got away with playing practically a ten-man side. Given India’s need for a seam-bowling allrounder, Nitish Kumar Reddy was understandably given games to develop his skills, but he hardly had a role to play in the series. Now, with their No. 1 Test wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant fit again, India have decided to keep Dhruv Jurel in the XI as a specialist batter and release Reddy to the India A side. The rest of the team should remain unchanged.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 B Sai Sudharsan, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed SirajTemba Bavuma should replace Dewald Brevis in South Africa’s XI•Associated Press

South Africa should look to replicate the combination that won their previous Test, against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. The batting ability of their first-choice attack gives them depth without compromising the bowling. Marco Jansen should pip Wiaan Mulder to the XI because there’s unlikely to be assistance for traditional seam bowling. The returning captain Temba Bavuma should take Dewald Brevis’ spot.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Ryan Rickelton, 3 Tristan Stubbs, 4 Tony de Zorzi, 5 Temba Bavuma (capt), 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Senuran Muthusamy, 8 Simon Harmer, 9 Marco Jansen, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Kagiso RabadaPitch and conditionsEarly indications suggest a good batting track at Eden Gardens, which could possibly bring reverse swing into the picture. There will be little grass on the pitch but it is not expected to be excessively dry or cracked either. A potentially tough task awaits the side that loses the toss.Stats and trivia Gill has won only one toss in seven Tests as captain. South Africa have not won the toss in their previous seven Tests in India. One of these unlucky runs will end on Friday. Kyle Verreynne is five short of becoming only the fifth South Africa wicketkeeper to reach 100 Test dismissals. Jadeja is just ten runs short of becoming only the fourth player in the world to achieve the double of 300 wickets and 4000 runs in Tests.

The cricketing gods have not always been on his side, but on Thursday, his hard work finally met the fortune it deserved

Karthik Krishnaswamy02-Oct-20251:46

Aakash Chopra decodes Siraj’s scrambled seam

Getting squared up isn’t a good look for anyone, but sometimes a batter gets a ball so good there’s little else they can do.Mohammed Siraj bowled a ball like this to Roston Chase on Thursday in Ahmedabad. Pretty much every cue the batter must have picked up in the split-seconds either side of the ball leaving the bowler’s hand must have told him it was coming into him. There was, first of all, Siraj’s beyond-the-perpendicular release, which always creates a natural angle into the right-hand batter. Then it swung in further – 0.7 degrees according to ball-tracking data.Chase must have also seen the seam coming out scrambled. When Siraj releases the ball like this, it invariably behaves like an offcutter, nipping into the right-hander and away from the left-hander.Well, not invariably. Not this ball. This one pitched and straightened, seaming away 0.7 degrees. And suddenly, Chase’s perfectly reasonable idea of looking to work the ball into the on side looked very, very silly. All he managed was a sliver of leading edge to the wicketkeeper, and West Indies were 105 for 6, with four of those wickets falling to Siraj.Related

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If the first three had made for satisfying watching for Siraj’s growing ranks of fans, this one must have made them jump out of their seats. What had happened here? Was this a moment of pure randomness, the ball deviating in an unexpected way because it had happened to land in a particular way, with the edge of the seam happening to make contact with a grassy, responsive pitch at a particularly opportune angle?Or had Siraj willed this? Was this a new variation, a new addition to his wobble-seam repertoire?”The wobble-seam [ball] is like this, that it sometimes straightens and sometimes cuts [into the right-hand batter],” Siraj said at his press conference at the end of the day’s play. “That ball kind of straightened towards the shiny side. I mostly look to move the wobble-seam [ball] in, but it kept straightening towards the shiny side, and took the edge, caught behind.”2:02

Siraj: Really enjoyed dismissing Brandon King

From this it seems that ball may have been something of a happy accident – one that Siraj knows can happen from time to time, but not one he can will into occurring. He may deliver some of his wobble-seam balls with the shiny side facing into the batter, some with the shiny side facing away, and this may well influence the way the ball behaves before pitching, but what happens after isn’t entirely in his control.It’s a very Siraj kind of delivery, because which cricketer in the world has a better understanding of what’s in their control and what isn’t?This is a man who, from November 2024 to August 2025, bowled tirelessly and with immense skill, control and smarts across ten Tests in Australia and England, who seldom wavered from good lines and lengths, seldom let his intensity drop, almost always gave batters reason to worry about both their edges, and yet ended up averaging 31.15 and 32.43 in those two series. Even as luckless spell followed luckless spell, he never lost his ironclad belief in his processes, and though he found belated reward and recognition by the time he willed India to a series-levelling victory at The Oval with one of the great Test-match displays by an India fast bowler, his career numbers continued to do him no justice.Thursday was a day of redressal. Tagenarine Chanderpaul strangled him down the leg side. Brandon King shouldered arms to a ball that knocked back middle stump without having deviated in an unusual or unpredictable way. Alick Athanaze edged him, rather than playing and missing, when he chased at a wide tempter, and second slip held on to the chance rather than grassing it.And now the gods had given him a bit of a hand, coaxing this wobble-seam ball to Chase to behave the way it did.Mohammed Siraj leaps in celebration after bowling Brandon King•Associated PressSiraj had earned every bit of good fortune, of course. It was reward for all the work he’s put in over all the months and years of his career, and for all the work he had put in on this new day, another day of impeccable lengths, buzzing intensity, and the relentless threat of movement in either direction, in the air and off the pitch.At his press conference, someone suggested to him that it must have been a relief to get his wickets as quickly as he did today, against lower-ranked opposition, after all the toil he’d endured in England. Without ever losing his sweetly polite manner, he made it clear that the question wounded him.”Sir, even here I took four wickets only by working hard,” Siraj said. “You only get wickets by working hard. I got wickets in England by working hard, and I worked hard for them here too. It isn’t as if anyone gave me wickets free of cost. No one gave me that fifth wicket. All four wickets came from hard work.”It was clear how much a fifth wicket – all five of his Test-match five-fors have come away from home – would have meant to Siraj. He nearly got it when he had an lbw appeal against a shuffling Justin Greaves upheld only for DRS to save the batter, with ball-tracking suggesting his inducker would have missed leg stump.It was as if the cricketing gods had spoken again. Even on this day of redressal, not everything would go Siraj’s way.

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