03 December,2024 06:10 AM IST | Adelaide | R Kaushik
Mohammed Siraj celebrates a wicket during the first Test against Australia at Perth last week. Pic/Getty Images
Sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah isn't too dissimilar, one supposes, to opening the batting alongside Virender Sehwag. All the action seems to be unfolding at the other end. Just as Sehwag destroyed the best bowling attacks with scant regard for reputation or quality, Bumrah is a one-man demolition job who forces batters to dance to his tune.
It can be intimidating and a little dispiriting, being their partner. So much has been said of the impact Bumrah has on the opposition, but while he can inspire and lift his bowling colleagues, he can also leave them feeling somewhat helpless from time to time because such is his genius.
For the last few years, especially the last 12 months since Mohammed Shami's unavailability due to injury, Mohammed Siraj has primarily been Bumrah's new-ball mate across formats. The Hyderabadi has had his moments, but he has also endured the agony of the lack of returns in terms of wickets. In a classic example of the vicious cycle of life, the failure to stack up wickets sparked a desperation to his bowling which in turn led to him losing his discipline, resulting in the drought of wickets continuing. It couldn't have been a happy space to operate from.
Siraj is a seasoned pro who first played for the country seven years back. His Test debut came four years ago in Melbourne after Shami was ruled out with a broken forearm and at 30, he is now a semi-veteran, with 85 wickets from 32 Tests under his belt. Like everyone else, he is still a work in progress but of late, he is more at ease, more relaxed, more sanguine and less worked up, all of which together are beginning to pay dividends for himself and his team.
Since destroying South Africa at the top of the year with a sensational burst of six for 15 in nine overs in the Cape Town Test, Siraj has managed just 12 wickets from his next 15 Test innings, going wicketless on 10 of those occasions. Unsurprisingly, that resulted in the fun element going out of his bowling. After snaring just two wickets in 31 overs spread over two Tests against New Zealand at home, he introspected, realised that he wasn't enjoying his cricket, reached out to old guru Bharat Arun, and is now back humming, as they say.
Arun and Siraj have a long relationship, dating back to the 2016-17 season, when Arun was the Hyderabad team's coach and oversaw the development of the young quick. Soon, they were united in the national set-up where Arun was the bowling coach during Ravi Shastri's long tenure as head coach. When Siraj turned to Arun for a helping hand before flying out to Australia, the former India player reiterated the significance of not chasing wickets, but focussing on the process and letting his skills do the rest - a message reiterated by Bumrah in Perth.
Also Read: 'Why not Ravichandran Ashwin?': Doull questions India's choice of Siraj as nightwatchman
Like an obedient student, Siraj heeded both âArun sir' and âJassi bhai'. The result - five wickets in Perth, and a return of the infectious, innocent smile. Siraj sure is having fun now.
18
No. of wickets claimed by Mohammed Siraj in four Tests on Australian soil
