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India vs New Zealand fifth ODI match is over as the Men in Blue secured a victory over the Kiwis by 22 runs in the final ODI to win the series 1-3 at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. The pace bowling department cruised through the Kiwi batting order. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar praised Mohammed Siraj on his return to the ODI side and his bowling performance.
The Men in Blue won the first two games, and the third match was washed out. In the fourth game, they were handed a defeat by 244 runs, as Shreyas Iyer’s side came back strong in the final game and defended a low total to win the series. This is the first time India won both ODI and T20I series in New Zealand.
"Wasn't getting the grip": Sunil Gavaskar explains why Mohammed Siraj took time to get back to his rhythm
While speaking on Sony Sports Network, Sunil Gavaskar said that Mohammed Siraj was struggling at the initial stages of the second innings as he was not getting his landing of the foot right in the crease, as it was slipping a bit, so it was creating problems on his line and length. Once he got his rhythm, he was unstoppable.
"He was wayward because he wasn't getting the grip while landing. His foot was slipping a little when the front foot was in the delivery stride. That's why he was probably not feeling confident," he responded (as quoted by Sportskeeda).
"He is a rhythm bowler, which means you get into rhythm when you keep bowling. Look at how nicely his ball came in (to dismiss Finn Allen)," Gavaskar observed.
Sunil Gavaskar praises team management for letting Mohammed Siraj play in 5th ODI
Sunil Gavaskar also revealed that Siraj will be playing a Test match in a few days, so to get back into rhythm, he needed to feature in the final ODI game. He played the second unofficial Test match and looked in good form as the former captain also feels that bowling in a match is lot more different than in nets.
"He has to play a Test match in three days. So, it was necessary for him to play today's match. He will benefit from the overs he bowled in the Test match as well," he said.
"Had he been resting only in the five ODIs, he would definitely have been bowling in the nets, but there is a huge difference between the net and match temperament. You don't have any pressure in the nets. There is no pressure of no-balls or batters hitting you for fours and sixes," Gavaskar observed.
Mohammed Siraj performance vs New Zealand
Mohammed Siraj looked in good shape and used all his 50-over experience from the very first over. He gave India the breakthrough by taking the wicket of dangerous Tim Seifert and then kept on bowling in the right line and length and created pressure on the Kiwi batters.
Siraj bamboozled Finn Allen with a jaffer off a delivery which clipped the top of off stumps and came back sharp under lights. The veteran pacer finished off the match with figures of 2/50 in his 10 overs and also contributed 14 runs with the bat in the first innings, which helped the side to go past 200 runs.
Also Read: Dinesh Karthik credits Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh for India's win vs NZ in 5th ODI
