Follow UsMohammed Siraj had a very quiet first Test. He bowled only four overs in the first innings and conceded 28 runs. In the second, he gave 22 in 7 overs.
Then he took a break in the second Test, where Mukesh Kumar, his replacement, was even worse, and India were practically playing with a single pacer on a track where Jasprit Bumrah wrecked England’s batting with his genius.
Hence, in what was a comeback of sorts at Rajkot, Siraj not only fulfilled the responsibilities of a second seamer but went above and beyond to pick up four wickets after Ben Duckett and England had India crawling on the floors at the end of Day 2. India were also missing their ace spinner Ashwin, but Siraj, on a flat track, bowled out of his skin to allow India a 126-run lead.
All the four wickets that Siraj got today were on deliveries targeting the stumps. He got Ollie Pope LBW, cleaned up Rehan Ahmed and Anderson with special yorkers, and got Ben Foakes to miscue a shot straight to mid-on. He targeted the stumps but mixed his deliveries quite well, so the batters had to be on their toes at all points against him.
Siraj confirmed that this was a deliberate ploy in the press conference.
“The wicket was quite flat. It was slow, and the ball wasn’t coming on at pace on the bat as well. So I had to talk with the captain and formulate my plans in case wickets don’t come. I would try all my weapons like yorker, slower one etc.
The batsman should have it in his mind that he is bowling slower ones along with the bouncers. It confuses him about what’s coming next. That’s where the momentum changed for us as well, and it’s always a proud moment for the fast bowler to get the wicket on a yorker.”
He dwelled a bit more on his fields and plans after the ball started reversing. He was bowling much straighter as expected with close-in fielders on the leg side.
"The ball was reversing, and there wasn’t a chance of it going towards slips. The wicket was also slow, so even if there wasn’t an edge, it would bounce once or twice before reaching the slips. So I decided to keep the stumps in play and look for LBW and catching opportunities at mid-wicket and square leg. Foakes played exactly the shot we had planned, and it was perfect execution from our side."
When asked how Ashwin’s absence affected the team, Siraj chose to see the silver lining and stressed how he loves bowling long spells in Test cricket, and India playing with only four bowlers in Ashwin’s absence allowed him that.
“In the morning, we got to know that Ashwin bhai won’t be with us, and Rohit bhai also told us that we’ll have to be ready to bowl long spells. I personally love bowling spells as a fast bowler in a test match, as it’s hard to set batters in 3-4 overs. And that’s exactly what happened, as I was able to set up batters and get wickets.”
Siraj also sheepishly took a jibe at Joe Root by questioning his shot selection in England’s first innings as he was caught by Yashasvi in the second slip, trying to play a reverse ramp shot over slips against Bumrah. Siraj also identified it as the period where India’s comeback in the game was confirmed.
“Duckett and Root’s partnership were having a great partnership and if they had batted longer, it would have been difficult. So suddenly, when Root played that shot, which wasn’t meant to be played on a wicket like this, it was great for us.
After that, Ben Foakes and Stoakes had a good partnership, but when Ben Stoakes played that shot and lost his wicket, we were completely back in the game.”
Siraj also felt that going into day four, the pitch would get more slow and low, and he hoped that the Indian bowlers could abstain from bowling outside the line of the stumps, and focus on a simple plan of bowling stump to stump.
“The ball will get low on the fourth day. I can’t say accurately what will happen on this wicket. Based on how I have assessed this wicket, if the bowler bowls at the stumps, there are good chances of success. By bowling wide, you are putting pressure on your team.
So, whatever I want to try, I want to try from the stumps. It’s reversing. It’s keeping low. So, whatever I want to try, I want to do it from the stump line only. It’s our own team’s loss if I try something from outside. So stump line is the key for me.
I hope our bowlers will keep the plan simple and focus on bowling dot balls. They are not gonna defend all six balls. Once they have defended two, they’ll definitely go for a shot on the third. So we don’t have to try anything extra.”