"You started wondering if they did the right thing" - Aakash Chopra on Mohammed Siraj playing ahead of Arshdeep Singh in 3rd Ind vs Eng ODI
Aakash Chopra has lauded Mohammed Siraj for proving right the Indian team management's decision to play him ahead of Arshdeep Singh in the third and final ODI against England.
Siraj scalped two wickets in his very first over to push England on the back foot at the start of their innings at Old Trafford on Sunday, July 17. Jos Buttler & Co. were eventually bowled out for 259 runs and Team India went on to win the match by five wickets to seal the series 2-1.
While reviewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra acknowledged that he was slightly skeptical when the Men in Blue opted to play Siraj ahead of Arshdeep, elaborating:
"There was a setback at the start and it was one to cause slight concern because Jasprit Bumrah was not there. If it is the series decider and Bumrah is not there, you feel you are stuck. Then it came to the mind that you should play Arshdeep Singh. But the team played Mohammed Siraj and you started wondering if they did the right thing."
The former India opener added that he was proved wrong as the Hyderabad-born pacer struck a couple of early blows with the ball. Aakash Chopra observed:
"They did the absolute correct thing, two players were dismissed for a duck right at the start, go Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root. Mohammed Siraj bowled amazingly well with the new ball, he was absolutely exceptional."
When Siraj takes the ball away, he becomes such a threat. I feared he was becoming a scrambled seam inward slant bowler. Excellent over.
Jonny Bairstow got a leading edge while trying to play Siraj towards the leg side and was caught by substitute fielder Shreyas Iyer at mid-off. Joe Root got an outside edge to a peach of a delivery from the 28-year-old pacer which was gobbled up by Rohit Sharma at second slip. Arshdeep, meanwhile, was reportedly not available for selection due to injury.
"Indian bowling has been absolutely exceptional" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra highlighted that India's exceptional bowling put paid to England's hopes of posting mammoth totals in the ODI series. He said:
"England was a rogue team, that they will hit and score 400 runs. Forget 400, they were dismissed for 110 first, 246 the second time and 259 this time. The claim you make of moving the world, you couldn't do that because Indian bowling has been absolutely exceptional."
The reputed commentator also praised Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal for being amongst the wickets after Siraj's early strikes. Chopra stated:
"You can see from the first match to now, in fact you can include T20s as well, Indian bowling has impressed one and sundry. Here Mohammed Siraj dismissed two players at the start, then it was Hardik Pandya's turn - he picked up four wickets, and then Yuzi Chahal three - he picked up four at the top in the last match and three lower order in this match."
While observing that Mohammad Shami was slightly off-color, Aakash Chopra reckons Prasidh Krishna redeemed himself by bowling a decent spell in the third ODI.
The 44-year-old was also appreciative of the bowling changes made by Rohit, citing the example of Ravindra Jadeja dismissing Moeen Ali with the second delivery he bowled.