Indian pace bowler Mohammed Siraj has said that the recently-concluded Test tour of England was a "great experience" and that he was happy that he could repose the faith of his captain Virat Kohli during the series.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Siraj played a key role in India taking a 1-0 lead in the series, notching eight wickets in the Lord's Test, which led to the visitors winning the tie by 151 runs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The England tour was a great experience by any stretch of imagination. I am glad that I could repose the faith of my captain Virat bhai, head coach Ravi Shastri, the support staff and the entire team," the 27-year-old, who has so far amassed 30 wickets in the nine Tests, told Sportstar on Thursday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Siraj though said that he was a bit disappointed at not being selected in the side for the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman in October-November this year.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Well, selection is not in our hands. It was certainly a dream to play in the T20 World Cup. But, again, that is not the end of it all. I have many more goals -- the biggest being to play a lead role in helping the team to win matches," said Siraj.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I will take things as they come for I believe in destiny and be content in whatever opportunities I get even as the pursuit for excellence at the highest level continues," he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Siraj said that sharing the ball with the likes of pace stalwarts Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami was a great experience.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Definitely, bowling in tandem with big names like Shami bhai, Ishant bhai and Jasprit (Bumrah) bhai is a huge learning curve for me. They were so supportive and always came up with invaluable tips to keep improving my bowling," he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The pace bowler added that the team was on a high since winning the Test series in Australia and that confidence rubbed off in the series against England.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We were confident, though not complacent. This team is on a high after the memorable series win in Australia. It is a team with complete balance in all departments. And, personally, for me it is a joy to be part of such a unit led by such an inspirational leader like Virat bhai," Siraj said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He added that a piece of advice from Kohli ahead of the England series helped him during the tour and credited his eight-wicket haul at Lord's to that.<\/p>\r\n\r\n