Sachin Tendulkar praises Mohammed Siraj, decodes the Indian pacer's in-cutters
Sachin Tendulkar was left impressed by Mohammed Siraj's performance on day one of the ongoing Test match against Australia in Brisbane. Tendulkar also decoded how Siraj bowled in-cutters in the match.
The commentators felt the Indian pacer used cracks on the pitch to deceive the batsmen. However, Tendulkar pointed out that Siraj didn't depend on the pitch to get movement off the seam.
Siraj received his Test cap in the Melbourne Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. And injuries to multiple Indian fast bowlers meant he started as the most experienced fast bowler in the playing XI at the Gabba.
While analyzing Siraj's bowling on his YouTube channel, Sachin Tendulkar explained how the Indian bowler changed his grip to bowl in-cutters.
Tendulkar mentioned that the commentators could not pick Siraj's bowling grip at first. But then they realized that the Indian pacer did not use assistance from the cracks on the wicket for his in-cutters.
"When Mohammad Siraj was bowling, I heard a couple of guys say, 'the ball hit the crack and nipped back'. Something which I observed was completely different. Siraj while bowling the outswinger, would get his fingers behind the ball, and release the ball. The seam is pointing towards first slip or sometimes towards second slip. And when he wanted to bowl the in-cutter that moves off the seam, then he would keep the shine on the off-side. He would then go cross-seam. That's when the commentators also noticed that," said Sachin Tendulkar.
Mohammed Siraj was impressive in the first innings and finished with the most maiden overs among Indian bowlers. In his 28 overs, Siraj gave away 77 runs and also took David Warner's crucial wicket.
It was Mohammed Siraj's talent: Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar emphasized it was Mohammed Siraj's talent that helped him get movement at the Gabba. The former Indian batsman concluded with the following statement about Siraj's skills:
"I don't think the movement was off the crack, but it was Siraj's talent, his ability to bowl those in-cutters."
The hosts scored 369 runs in the first innings. In reply, India aggregated 62 runs for the loss of two wickets by the end of second day's play.