Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has heaped high praise on debutant pacer Mohammed Siraj following his impressive outing on his first day of Test match cricket against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Siraj, a consistent performer for India A and in domestic cricket, was right on the money on possibly the biggest day of his life, as he consistently troubled the Australian batsmen with seam movement, subtle use of the short-pitch stuff, and incredible accuracy.
Siraj had to wait till the post Lunch session to get his first crack at the Australian batsmen as skipper Ajinkya Rahane persisted with the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the morning session considering the moisture-laden pitch was assisting the spinners.
Bumrah said that Siraj was waiting for his chance and when he did get it, he made full use of it despite the moisture having dried out and pitch becoming relatively easy for batting.
Mohammed Siraj claimed his first Test wicket in the form of Marnus Labuschagne, who fell into the leg-side trap set by Rahane and the fast bowler. But the standout feature of his bowling on the first day was the manner in which he set-up all-rounder Cameron Green.
Having found swing with the old ball, Siraj kept teasing Green with a series of outswingers before he got one to nip back in with pace to bamboozle Green’s defense and trap him plumb in front of the wicket.
“He made his debut, he was very keen to bowl in the first session [of the 2nd Test], he was waiting for his chance. So, yeah, he’s worked really hard, he’s come up to the ranks. So, yeah, he was bowling well, he was in amidst a good spell,” Jasprit Bumrah said in a press conference after Stumps, Day 1.
“So, yeah, when he came after lunch, after the first session, so there was not lot happening. So he bowled with a lot of control and then suddenly he started getting a little bit of movement. So he tried to use the best of it and, you know, playing his first Test match he bowled really well and he showed confidence in using all his skills. So that’s a very heartening sign for us and hopefully he continues like that,” he added.
Siraj strikes again – Green out lbw despite the review #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/533ldw9DaN
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 26, 2020
It was an emotional day for Siraj; one that was capped-off with him leading the Indian team off the ground on the behest of skipper Ajinkya Rahane.
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