India pacer Mohammed Siraj found himself caught in an awkward situation during a press conference when he was unexpectedly asked about the cancelled World Championship of Legends (WCL) match between India and Pakistan. The two sides were scheduled to face off at Edgbaston, but the match was scrapped after some players from the India Champions squad reportedly refused to participate.
The decision was influenced by the tragic terrorist attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, which further strained relations between India and Pakistan. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, emotions around the issue have remained high.
Siraj’s Honest Response Goes Viral
During the media session ahead of the fourth Test between India and England, Siraj was taken aback when asked about the political fallout affecting cricket.
“𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘,” 𝑺𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.
When probed further about the possibility of India playing Pakistan in ICC tournaments, Siraj simply repeated:
“𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚.”
His straightforward responses quickly went viral, highlighting the discomfort players face when non-cricket questions are thrown at them during match briefings.
Reflecting on Lord’s Loss and His Unlucky Dismissal
Shifting focus back to cricket, Siraj also spoke about his unfortunate dismissal in the third Test of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. Recalling the moment at Lord’s, he described how the ball bounced off the pitch and rolled onto the stumps after being hit, ending a gritty partnership with Ravindra Jadeja.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒐𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍,” 𝑺𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.
Despite his dismissal, Siraj believed they were on the verge of a game-changing partnership.
“𝑯𝒂𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
India eventually lost the match by 22 runs, despite dominating England for long stretches, with Jasprit Bumrah’s seven-wicket haul standing out.
As India prepares for the fourth Test, Siraj hopes to bounce back—both mentally and on the field—leaving the off-field controversies behind.
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