Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja has pointed out that there is a lot of potential for growth in Mohammad Siraj’s bowling. On a placid Day 5 track that offered little for the bowlers, Siraj exploited his ability to bowl skiddy deliveries to knock over the England batsmen.
He picked up India’s best figures at Lord’s in Test history, ending the match with figures of 8/126 across both innings. It completed a memorable win for India at the ‘Home of Cricket’, also ensuring Virat Kohli and co. go into the next Test with a 1-0 lead.
Speaking about Siraj’s performance and bowling style, Ajay Jadeja reckoned the Hyderabadi has a unique ability to bowl pacy skidders that are hard to tackle for the batsmen.
“I expect him to grow even further because he is still young. You need a different pace to get the tail out. There is a difference between the speed a speed gun shows and what the batsman plays.”
“I don’t know about the speed gun, but the pace at which he has bowled in both innings, with the ball skidding onto the batsman. He is beating the batsman just with pace, beating them in the air,” Jadeja observed.
“Whatever be the conditions, he keeps trying something different” – Ajay Jadeja
While there were contributions from bowlers all-around, Siraj ended up doing most of the damage in the second Test. He picked his wickets in pairs, being on a hat-trick twice in the match. Even though the conditions were favorable for batting from Day 2, Jadeja implied Siraj is unaffected by the conditions.
“You need a different skill in India where you won’t get those types of conditions (like in England and New Zealand). We can see a different spark in him. The job he has done is totally different.”
“There are two types of bowlers – one who maintains his line and length and consistently bowls at one spot. He is among those who, whatever be the conditions, keeps trying something different,” Jadeja concluded.
The teams will now take an eight-day break before heading over to Headingley, Leeds to compete in the third match of the series.
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