India pacer Mohammed Siraj is back among the wickets once again. The pacer Mohammed Siraj provided the perfect support act for Jasprit Bumrah in the Perth Test match, which helped India win their first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by 295 runs. Apart from Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj was impressive with his nagging lengths and his ability to target the stumps.
Mohammed Siraj credits Bharat Arun, Morne Morkel for form revival ahead of Australia tour. Mohammed Siraj picked up five wickets in the first Test in Perth and was instrumental in India’s first win at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Mohammed Siraj struggle to find form in NZ series and his bounce back story in Australia
The India pacer Mohammed Siraj credited Bharat Arun and Morne Morkel for his form revival and revealed the chats that he had with them before India’s tour of Australia. Things were not this rosy for Mohammed Siraj this year in the red ball format. The pacer was rested for a game after a terrible showing in the 1st Test vs England in January 2024. In the Test series against New Zealand, Mohammed Siraj was once again benched in Pune and picked only 2 wickets in 2 matches.
India speedster Mohammed Siraj struggled to find form in the series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. He was benched at one point as the team management preferred Akash Deep over him in the playing XI. However, in the first Test against Australia in Perth, the Hyderabad-born found his lost rhythm as he picked up five wickets across both innings. He will be important for the remaining four Test matches as well, especially as India are looking to seal their spot in the World Test Championship finale.
Mohammed Siraj had a few rough matches in between. India’s second-in-command pacer was out of sorts until the lead-up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, picking up just eight wickets across six Tests.
In ODIs, he has gone wicketless in 2024, while T20Is yielded him two wickets from six matches. Safe to say, Siraj was struggling, and despite encouraging words from Jasprit Bumrah, who told him, “Don’t worry about wickets, it will come in due time. If it doesn’t, come to me,” and bowling coach Morne Morkel’s “You are a warrior, don’t worry, just bowl,” advice, Siraj found himself in a no-man’s land.
Meanwhile, addressing his form concerns, Mohammed Siraj said that he recently had a chat with former national bowling coach Bharat Arun who gave him the confidence to bounce back. Notably, Arun, who is currently with KKR as bowling coach, spent plenty of time with Siraj in the Indian team and played a vital part in developing his career. Mohammed Siraj noted that before travelling to Australia, he also met fielding coach T Dilip in Hyderabad and spoke about the role current bowling coach Morne Morkel played in developing his morale.
India pacer Mohammed Siraj reveals ‘words of wisdom’ from Morne Morkel after turning things around ahead of BGT 2024-25 pink-ball Test
India pacer Mohammed Siraj has stated that fast bowling coach Morne Morkel calls him a “warrior.” Mohammed Siraj added that the advice from the coaching staff and vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah helped him overcome his slump with the ball in the first Test against Australia in Perth, where he bagged five wickets in India’s 295-run win. The turnaround came in pace-friendly conditions after managing just six wickets in four Tests at home.
Siraj added that he has started to focus more on enjoying his bowling instead of running after wickets. The 30-year-old said (via ESPNCricinfo):
“Morne [Morkel, India’s current bowling coach] keeps telling me that ‘you are a warrior. You’ll get us wickets, but you just keep enjoying your bowling’.”
“I always keep talking to Jassi bhai [Bumrah]. Even before the first match, I spoke with him about what I was going through. And he just told me one thing – don’t run after wickets, just keep bowling consistently in one area and enjoy your bowling. If you still don’t get wickets, then you come ask me. So I enjoyed my bowling and I got wickets as well,” he added.
Mohammed Siraj further credited the fast-bowling friendly conditions in Australia for him regaining his mojo since spinners play a predominant role in the sub-continent:
“Australia is a place where a fast bowler enjoys because you get pace and bounce. As a fast bowler, you get everything you want. So you get a different kind of confidence to come and enjoy your bowling here.”
“When I wasn’t getting wickets, I went a bit deep into why I wasn’t getting them. In India you know that spinners bowl most of the overs, so there it’s a little tough to get wickets in [the] five-six overs [you get as a fast bowler]. So I just became a bit upset about why I wasn’t getting wickets. But now I am having a lot of fun,” he added.
Mohammed Siraj has scalped 18 wickets in four Tests Down Under, including a fifer in Brisbane in famous series win in BGT 2020-21.
Mohammed Siraj on India’s preparation ahead of pink-ball second Test
Mohammed Siraj further opened up on the challenges of playing with the pink ball in the upcoming second Test in Adelaide, which starts on Friday, December 6. The Hyderabad-born pacer said in the same interaction:
“This [pink] ball has a synthetic feeling. This is different to the red ball we play with. There can be a bit of confusion due to the ball, but it’s just one match so we just have to focus on that and practice for it and we’ll improve day-by-day. The seam is very hard. It’s bright, and quite big. The more you practice with it, the better you get.”
“I think that with the pink ball, it’s better to bowl back of length. Because pitching it up, there’s not a lot of swing, so the more you hit the deck and get it to seam, it will be better for us. I have heard that the ball swings a lot under the lights but I haven’t yet bowled with it under lights. So when we go to Adelaide and practice, we will try that,” he added.
Mohammed Siraj returned with figures of 1/18 in his seven overs, including a maiden, against Australia PM XI in the pink-ball warmup game. India won the game by six wickets. Mohammed Siraj bowled seven overs and picked up the wicket of Matt Renshaw in the warm-up game against Prime Minister’s XI. He will be key for the Indian team in the Pink Ball Test against Australia in Adelaide, slated to begin on December 6.