"He was on par with Virat"- Ex-IND star names an Indian player who deserves a joint "Man of the Series" with Virat Kohli

After winning the T20I series 2-1, India whitewashed Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series, which ended on Sunday. The third and final ODI was a one-sided affair, with India thrashing the Islanders by a massive margin of 317 runs to complete the whitewash.

Virat Kohli showed his vintage best and scored his second century of the series, smashing an unbeaten 166 off just 110 balls to take India to a massive score of 390/5. Then, it was Mohammed Siraj's show, who didn't let the Sri Lankan batter score runs and picked up 4/22.

As a result, Sri Lanka got dismissed for just 73 runs in 22 overs, losing by the biggest margin in the history of ODI cricket. The ODI series saw Virat Kohli coming back to his best and ending with the highest run-getter.

He scored a total of 283 runs in three innings at an average of 141.50 with two centuries. However, this series also saw the rise of Siraj as a dependable bowler in white-ball cricket. In his presence, India didn't miss Jasprit Bumrah. Siraj picked up nine wickets in just three games at an economy rate of 4.06.

However, Virat Kohli was named "Man of the Match" in the third ODI and "Man of the Series," but former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir believes Siraj had an equal impact in the series and should have been named joint "Man of the Series."

In an interaction on Star Sports, Gambhir said, "Siraj was on par with Virat Kohli. There should be a joint Man of the Series. He was exceptional and his spells came on proper batting wickets. I know you are always tempted towards giving batters Player of Series awards, but Siraj was absolutely exceptional."

The pacer took regular wickets early on and provided India with crucial breakthroughs in the power-play. Gambhir stated that Siraj was giving India early wickets every time and would be an asset for the team moving forward.