‘Bas ek over de de…’: Siraj pleads with captain Shubman Gill after torrid start, picks 2 wickets in next 4 balls | Cricket
It was a day of two halves for Mohammed Siraj. In his first spell with the new ball, Siraj was hit for five boundaries, which forced him to off the field with figures of 3 overs, none for 25 on Day 1 against South Africa in Kolkata. The rhythm was missing, there was no real momentum in his run-up and it appeared like he was floating the ball in.
India’s Mohammed Siraj reacts(AP)
There was considerable improvements in his second spell but Siraj was nowhere close to Jasprit Bumrah, who was giving nightmares to the South African batters whenever he got the ball in his hand. Things changed in the second session when Siraj swapped ends. He started bowling from Bumrah’s end and immediately got more assistance but the wickets column was yet to change.
After three overs in his third spell, captain Shubman Gill wanted to change things and bring a spinner from his end — India were, of course, playing four of them in their XI — but Siraj requested his captain for one more over. His plea was heard and it changed everything. The right-arm pacer got two wickets in that over.
Siraj got his first breakthrough of the day by trapping Verreynne (16) right in front of the stumps. The ball came back in sharply and the South African keeper was late to bring the bat down in time. On the fourth ball of the same over, Siraj breached the defence of Marco Jansen with another brute of an in-dipper. It certainly got the large Eden Gardens crowd going.
“Bas ek over de de… Aur usi over mein do wicket mil gaye (Please give me one more over… and I got a couple of wickets),” Siraj told the broadcasters after the close of play with a big smile on his face.
Siraj said the ball was misbehaving from one end while it was coming nicely on the bat from the end where he started his spell.
“The new ball came onto the bat nicely. The Older ball was keeping low, so I attacked the stumps and built pressure. When the ball was reversing, it was tough to score off the stumps, especially with a leg-side field. The wider you go, the easier it gets. Bumrah was telling me to keep the lines straight. We’re in a good position, just one wicket down. They started really well before our bowlers hit back,” Siraj said.
Siraj finished the day with figures of 2/47 but it was senior partner Bumrah who wreaked havoc by picking up his 16th five-wicket haul. Bumrah’s 5/27 helped India pack South Africa for only 159 after they opted to bat. In reply, they did lose Yashasvi Jaiswal for 12, but his opening partner, KL Rahul (13*) and new No.3 Washington Sundar (6*) made sure there were no further hiccups as India reached stumps at 37/1.
