England not used to playing out dot balls - Mohammed Siraj after his four-wicket spell on day 3 in Rajkot

Mohammed Siraj led India’s comeback on day three with the ball in Rajkot. He took 4/84 with the ball as England were bowled out for 319 after finishing day two strongly on 207/2.

Jasprit Bumrah took the wicket of Joe Root to start England’s batting collapse on day 3. Siraj then got into the act with back-to-back wickets of Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes. The Indian pacer then cleaned up Rehan Ahmed and James Anderson as England were bowled out for 319 allowing India to take a 126-run lead.

Yashasvi Jaiswal’s unbeaten then assured India ended day two in a dominating fashion. The Men in Blue ended day 3 on 196/2 in the second innings. Rohit Sharma (19) added a 30-run stand for the opening wicket after which it was Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill’s (65* off 120) 155-run stand that wrestled the initiative back into India’s favor.

The southpaw unfortunately had a back spasm at the fag end of the day which is why he was retired hurt. England managed to dismiss Rajat Patidar for a duck but it was India who finished the day strongly leading by 322 runs at stumps on day 3.

Also Read: Watch: Unfortunate! Yashasvi Jaiswal walks off the field after getting retired hurt due to back spasm

Mohammed Siraj spoke about his bowling plans in the post-match interaction with the broadcasters. He spoke about how India patiently waited for England to make mistakes with the bat which they did in their quest to score quick runs. The Joe Root dismissal was heavily talked about.

The Yorker Was A Wicket-Taking Option: Mohammed Siraj

“We had only four bowlers and we had a responsibility. We knew they would attack so we spoke about sticking together knowing that they would make a mistake. We didn’t plan anything much, we were waiting for them to make a mistake. I knew the yorker would be a good wicket-taking option. The important role for a bowler is to bowl six dot balls, we know they’re not used to playing out six dots in a row” said Siraj.

He further spoke about what he did in the break between the second and the third Test. Mohammed Siraj was rested in the second Test after he was replaced by Mukesh Kumar who failed to make an impact in Vizag.

“Enjoyed with my family, then we had training. I did my training and then I even watched the Test match at home, enjoyed watching Bumrah bowling yorkers. (Thanks DK bhai and says “see you in RCB” with a laugh),” Siraj concluded saying.

The Indian spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja also played a key role with the ball. Kuldeep who was taken apart by Ben Duckett on day 2 finished with figures of 2/77 dismissing Jonny Bairstow and Ben Duckett. The chinaman bowler managed to bamboozle the England batters with his guile. Jadeja too managed to take a couple of wickets after coming into the bowl almost at the end of the first session.

The senior spinner finished with 2/51 dismising Ben Stokes and Tom Hartley. He was expected to play a key role after Ravichandran Ashwin’s forced withdrawal from the third Tesst and he did just that.

Earlier in the day, India fielded 10-men without their veteran spinner Ashwin who had to opt out of the ongoing Rajkot Test due to a family emergency. He took the wicket of Zak Crawley on day 2 which was his 500th wicket in Test matches.

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