India pacer Mohammed Siraj paid an emotional tribute to Portuguese footballer Diogo Jota, who passed away in a tragic car accident recently. Siraj, after he dismissed Jamie Smith for 50 in England's first inning, celebrated the wicket by forming the number 20, Jota's jersey number, with his hands to pay his respect to the star footballer.

Siraj reflected on his celebration and said he wanted to honour Jota because he is a fan of Portugal football and Cristiano Ronaldo. Siraj said he got the news of Jota's death while coming back from the match, and left him shocked.

“When we were coming back from the last match, we got to know that Diogo Jota had died in an accident,” Siraj said. “As I am a Portugal fan, and he plays for CR7’s team, I felt emotional. I wanted to do it in the last match.”

“When we were coming back from the last match, we got to know that Diogo Jota had died in an accident,” Siraj said. “As I am a Portugal fan, and he plays for CR7’s team, I felt emotional. I wanted to do it in the last match," said Siraj in a video posted by BCCI.

“Life is very unpredictable. For whom are we fighting? For whom are we doing this? There is no guarantee of tomorrow, so I was shocked something like this could happen," he added.

Siraj revealed that he discussed the celebration with Kuldeep Yadav. “I told him I want to make a gesture for Diogo Jota. Today I got a wicket, so I did it. That was my tribute to him.”

Meanwhile, fifties by KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant helped India make a strong comeback in the Test. After England scored 387 in the first innings, courtesy of Joe Root's hundred, India lost early wickets and reached 145-3 at stumps on Day 2, but Rahul and Pant batted well and got India past the 200 run mark without the loss of a wicket in first session on Day 3. India were 230-3 at the time of writing, with Pant at 65 and Rahul nearing hundred at 90.