Siraj picked a 4 for 81 to complete the English collapse.

Rahul Dravid walking to the pitch during each break of the match day has become a kind of ritual this series. Hands in his pocket, he would embark on this journey to the middle without fail and exception. While the exact insights he extracts from his reading of the surface can only be conjecture, to a casual observer the pitch would appear virtually unchanged since the first day. Dravid's daily routine might actually have seemed as exciting as watching paint dry but his bowlers seemed to have unearthed qualities unintelligible to the mundane eye.

Seemingly from a position of vulnerability, the Indian team bounced back in less than three hours, engineering a collapse in the English innings - fifth in as many innings in the series - and ended the Day Three in the box seat with 2-1 lead in the series a distinct possibility. This was possible, largely due to a lion-hearted effort of Indian bowlers, who galvanized themselves for the absence of teammate R Ashwin.

The turnaround was a collective effort of all four bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja - but Siraj can easily be considered the first among equals in that group. From what seemed like a barren, dry, and flat pitch, he breathed life into the game, akin to extracting water from a stone. He exhibited a combination of nippiness, fiery aggression, and vitality, qualities that were particularly evident in a spell of 5.1 overs during the post-lunch session, when he claimed three English wickets to complete the English collapse. Adding Ollie Pope's dismissal to his tally, he boasted figures of 4 for 81 in 21.1 overs.

"It is a flat and slow wicket and we have to make a plan. So we talked with the captain and planned that we don't get wickets then our weapons like the yorker, slower one ball...you should put it down in the batsman's mind that the bowler is bowling the bouncer or the slower one to keep him confused. I planned the yorker and executed it well and got the wicket and the momentum shifted. It is a proud feeling for a fast bowler to get a wicket," said Siraj on his performance of the day.

Siraj's evolution over the past couple of years is one of the success stories of Indian cricket. It spans tactical, technical, and mental facets of his game. He has always had a good seam position but his ability to now control length is much improved. Whether it be his hard length, yorkers or bouncer, he is able to execute with much more bite and consistency.

"Although Siraj is an aggressive fast bowler he is also getting better at channeling that emotion on the field and has developed good coping mechanisms to deal with the up and down nature of an international cricketer," said Mike Hesson, the former coach of RCB where Siraj played under him for four years.

Siraj has always been a nippy bowler, very skiddy off the wicket. Of late, he has shown his ability to use both new and old ball effectively, something that was evident on Saturday. All three wickets in the post lunch spell came with the old ball which he managed to reverse at more than 140 kmph.

What Hesson felt is that Siraj can be relentlessly accurate. The areas he bowls are very good and constantly hits the back of length and swings it from there, making the batters play more than leave the ball. He and Bumrah are chalk and cheese - different in action. If the latter is unconventional in action, Siraj is a conventional pacer. Bumah gets more bounce and Siraj is a skiddy customer. What is common in both Bumrah and Siraj is their pace, accuracy, discipline and effective yorkers, a weapon that got Siraj the last two wickets of the England first innings.

"Since we were one bowler short, the remaining four bowlers had to bowl long spells. Ash (Ashwin) bhai was our fifth bowler and I only wish that his mother gets well soon. If you bowl long spells you should not try much but be consistent with line and lengths. They are not used to defending all six balls (in an over), if they have defended on two, they are going to attack the third. I only want our bowlers to keep their plans simple and bowl dot balls," Siraj said of the team's bowling plan.

Siraj bowled two spells in the morning, on either side of lunch. His best was before lunch in which he bowled six overs and yet went wicketless. Rohit, who had a good day as a captain on Saturday, persisted with him on resumption and in the second session, he was difficult to stop. He deceived Ben Foakes with the length of the ball and the batter failed to keep it low. The next wickets - Rehan Ahmed and James Anderson for sent back with toe-crushers that would have made Bumrah happy.

With a 322-run lead and seven wickets (minus Ashwin's) in hand and two days to go, the Test is heading only in one direction unless Bazball produces its magic. If that happens, Siraj can't be faulted.