Indian National Cricket team fast bowler Mohammed Siraj made his international debut in the last match against Australia at Adelaide. Siraj, who replaced left-arm pacer, Khaleel Ahmed had a poor outing as he conceded 76 runs from 10 overs and returned without a wicket.
Meanwhile, Siraj last played a T20I in the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka in March 2018. But he has been in stellar form with the red ball while representing India A since July. He has taken three five-wicket hauls in the period in eight matches to collect 47 wickets at an average of 18.04. In July, he took figures of 8 for 132 against Windies A in Taunton and 7 for 134 against England Lions a few days later in Worcester. In Bengaluru in August, he collected 14 wickets against South Africa A in two matches before taking 11 for 136 in one match against Australia A in September.
More recently, he toured New Zealand as part of India A squad for three first-class matches in which he took seven wickets in three innings. In his last first-class match he finished with impressive figures of 3 for 74 and 4 for 71 for Hyderabad against Punjab in the Ranji Trophy. However, Mohammed Siraj failed to replicate his domestic performance in the international circuit and created an unwanted record. Giving away 76 runs, he is the second spot in the list of most runs conceded by an India on ODI debut.
India level the series 1-1
On the other hand, India bounced back to level the three-match series 1-1 with quality knocks from Virat Kohli (104) and MS Dhoni (56*). The visitors chased down a massive target of 299 runs with four balls to spare to set a series-decider at Melbourne. Mohammed Siraj was however at the receiving end and received social media flak for his poor outing.
Here are the Twitter Reactions:
https://twitter.com/BCCI_Men/status/1085076377622188032
Mohammad Siraj is the advanced version of Varun Aaron and Vinay Kumar combined.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 15, 2019
So Mohammad Siraj is Dinda version 2.O#SiRaj #INDvsAUS #ViratKohli
— KoMal SharMa (@bEiNgKomaL5) January 15, 2019
I do not understand this haste to blood youngsters without them even having a great economy record at the List A level. Siraj averages 5.47 at List A level. https://t.co/W0r8DnH804
— Sanjay Dixit ಸಂಜಯ್ ದೀಕ್ಷಿತ್ संजय दीक्षित (@Sanjay_Dixit) January 15, 2019
When CSK players were making it to the Indian team, people said Dhoni was showing favoritism. Will that be said about Siraj making it to the team now or will people only talk about his India 'A' performances?
— Sripad (@falsewinger) January 15, 2019
Mohammad Siraj goes for 76 runs in his debut match, meanwhile, Kedar Jadhav sits in pavilion twiddling his thumbs. Bring him in place of Karthik and you get 5-6 overs of spin and the tail becomes shorter #AUSvIND
— Jatin Sharma (@jatincricket) January 15, 2019
https://twitter.com/ateeq_mir/status/1085171741071093761
Lets be fair Mohammad Siraj will never be ready for International cricket. All his four innings have been expensive and cant see him improving. Soon becoming an IPL find and an International failure @BCCI #AUSvsIND
— [email protected] (@SudeepSonal) January 15, 2019
Another legend in the making. ???#MohammadSiraj #AUSvIND #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/LebwSm88gQ
— CricSwag (@CricSwagOnline) January 15, 2019
Mohammad Siraj : The ultimate poor guy of Indian Cricket !
Gets T20I Debut : Munro is ready !
Bowls In IPL : Dhoni & Williamson smashed em'
Gets ODI Debut : Maxwell says hello !#AUSvIND #2ndODI #ShaunMarsh— Bipul Bhattrai (@bipul_bhattrai) January 15, 2019
Mohammad Siraj right now pic.twitter.com/xXzhQRwtrI
— Sunil The Cricketer (@1sInto2s) January 15, 2019
Mohammad Siraj may be one of the best bowler in Domestic Circuit.
But when it comes to international level, he never matches his best.
Infact he moves from
Best to Better to Good to Bad to Worse to Worst. #AUSvIND #AusvIndia #IndvsAus #Adelaide— SatwikMathangi (@seven_week) January 15, 2019
This game reassured a few chinks for us.
1. Bumrah is HUGE.
2. Siraj is a liability.
3. Kuldeep needs a partner.
4. Not Jaddu, need Chahal.
5. Kedar has to play as the 6th bowling option.
7. Virat is still reactive, not proactive.Number 6 is our problem everywhere ??♂️ #AUSvIND
— Vinod Ramnath (@NaanumEngineer) January 15, 2019
