Fast-bowlers are not really known to be very good fielders but Mohammed Siraj has turned out to be an exception. He is one of the best fielders in the current Indian team and showed it once again on Thursday (January 25) by taking a stunning catch to dismiss Zak Crawley in the ongoing first Test at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad.
Playing his first Test at his home ground, the Hyderabad star could not take a wicket in his first spell. He and Jasprit Bumrah opened the attack for Team India after England won the toss and opted to bat first. Both Mohammed Siraj and Bumrah troubled the English openers but could not provide the early breakthrough for Team India.
Mohammed Siraj’s sharp catch:
After the pacers failed to break the opening stand, captain Rohit Sharma introduced spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin into the attack and it paid off. Ashwin dismissed the dangerous Ben Duckett to give India the much-needed breakthrough. Duckett departed after scoring 35 runs and sharing a 55-run stand with Crawley for the first wicket.
3 runs later, Jadeja dismissed Ollie Pope for just 1 to put India on the front foot. And two runs later, Ashwin struck again to dismiss Crawley and put India in the driver’s seat. While Mohammed Siraj could not take a wicket in his opening spell, he made amends by taking a brilliant catch to send back Crawley and leave the visitors reeling at 60 for 3.
Crawley danced down the track and chipped Ashwin’s delivery towards mid-off. In the meantime, Mohammed Siraj ran in and slid forward to catch the ball. The umpire took some time to take a call but eventually gave his decision in the Indian team’s favour.
Watch:
https://twitter.com/cricketkhelo11/status/1750393335901298869?
Meanwhile, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow have steadied the ship for the visitors after the collapse that saw them lost 3 wickets for just 5 runs. At the time of writing this report, England were on 95 for 3 in the 24th over with Root batting on 16 and Bairstow on 21.