It wasn’t a smooth year with the red-ball for one of the vital members of the bowling department for the Indian team, Mohammad Siraj, who was collecting the wickets comfortably at the start of his career in the longest format of the game, was finding it hard to get the rewards in his pocket. He was going for plenty of runs from one end to leak the pressure formed from the other end.
Questions started to be asked, doubts began to be created while voices were raised over the selection of Mohammad Siraj for the opening Test of the five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024/25 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The 30-year-old has picked up 24 wickets in 19 innings in the ongoing year at an average of over 26.95 with a strike rate of 46.
When it comes to his record down under in the five-day format, the Hyderabad-born pacer has collected 24 wickets in eight encounters at an average of just under 30 and a strike rate of 58.4 with the best of 5/73 in an innings.
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The veteran recalled how a chat with the premier pacer of the country, Jasprit Bumrah, and the former bowling coach of the side, Bharat Arun, helped him to get back on track.
“I am happy with the way I bowled here and at Perth. Over the last few months, I felt I wasn’t getting enough wickets, and in that desperation, a bit of my line and length was affected.” Mohammad Siraj expressed this during his recent interaction with Sportstar.
“I thought deeply about this, and I understood that when I enjoy my bowling, then the wickets usually follow. I am in that stage again now.” The fast bowler shed light.
Mohammad Siraj reveals the reason behind his success in Australia in Test matches
He has enjoyed 85 wickets in Tests in 32 games at an average of just under 30 and a strike rate of 53.2 with the help of three five-wicket and four four-wicket hauls in the format. He disclosed how the supportive words of Bumrah to focus on being consistent with the line and lengths with the ball rather than chasing for the wickets helped him, in getting the rewards.
“Jassy-bhai (Bumrah) told me to focus on being consistent instead of worrying about wickets. I also had a chat with B. Arun (India’s former bowling coach), and he too said the same thing to focus on my skills instead of worrying about wickets.” Mohammad Siraj explained in the discussion.
In the very first red-ball game of the series, the experienced bowler picked up a couple of wickets, giving away just 20 runs in his 13 overs, including seven maidens. He wrapped Marnus Labuschagne straight before the stumps before finding the outside edge of Mitchell Marsh into the hands of the first slip, KL Rahul.
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“Because the bounce is so good, at times, you may feel like striking the helmet of a batter. The point is not to be excited and just bow to your plans. As for the pink ball, you feel a bit synthetic while holding it, but other than that there is not much of a difference.” Mohammad Siraj added. “They say it moves around under lights, but we bowled first here, maybe we will get that feel at Adelaide during the second Test.”
During the two-day pink-ball practice game against the Prime Minister’s XI for Australia at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, Mohammad Siraj went through seven overs to concede 18 runs, besides picking up the wicket of Matt Renshaw. He will aim to contribute more in the second day-night fixture at the Adelaide Oval.