"The bowling plan was to build pressure from both ends" - Mohammed Siraj on leading India's attack at the Gabba
Opening up on spearheading India’s bowling attack in the fourth Test against Australia, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj said he planned with fellow pacer Shardul Thakur to take wickets by building pressure on the opposition batsmen.
Mohammed Siraj finished as India’s highest wicket-taker in the series with 13 scalps at an average of 29.54 across three Tests. He also returned match-winning figures of five for 73 to bundle out the hosts for 294 in the second innings at the Gabba.
“Shardul and I sat for some time in Brisbane and planned how to build pressure. Of course, a team is under pressure when it loses its big players due to injuries. But such is our support and coaching staff that they can make anything possible," Mohammed Siraj told TOI from Hyderabad on Monday (January 25).
“The bowling plan was to build pressure from both ends. When you build pressure, a batsman will surely make a mistake. That’s what happened. We built the pressure and the Australians gave away their wickets,” he added.
Going into the final Test, the four frontline Aussie bowlers’ combined experience was 247 Tests, while that of their Indian counterparts was an unimaginable four. Despite the odds and the niggling injuries, India took all 20 Aussie wickets before romping home with three wickets intact.
Pacer Navdeep Saini walked off with a hamstring strain after bowling just 7.5 overs in Australia’s first innings. But the 28-year-old showed tremendous heart while sending down five overs with the injury – albeit at a slower pace – in the second essay.
Mohammed Siraj also echoed similar sentiments, and disclosed all of them decided to keep hitting specific areas on a regular basis.
“We [Shardul Thakur, Natarajan, Saini and Siraj] selected some areas where we had to bowl regularly. We decided to cut off certain scoring areas. We didn’t want to give away many runs. I would give a lot of credit to Saini also. He got injured and then again came back onto the field. He is a brave bowler,” Mohammed Siraj stated.
The winning trophy was given to Natarajan because it was his debut match, says Mohammed Siraj
Fast bowlers Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn’t travel with the squad to Australia because of injuries. First-choice picks Mohammed Shami (fractured wrist during first Test), Umesh Yadav (calf muscle during second Test) and Jasprit Bumrah (abdominal strain during third Test) were all unavailable for the series decider.
The team management had to hand debuts to bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar and left-arm seamer T Natarajan. While Sundar impressed with both bat and ball, the latter was India’s best bowler in the first innings as he returned figures of three for 78 from 24.2 overs.
Mohammed Siraj sounded fascinated by Natarajan’s ability to bowl yorkers at will, and added that the decision to let him hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was a pre-planned one.
“Ajji bhai [Ajinkya Rahane] and Ravi sir [Ravi Shastri] decided to give the winning trophy to Natarajan to hold because it was his debut match. He came as a net bowler," Mohammed Siraj added.
"He made his debuts in T20Is, then ODIs and then Tests. He is a good bowler. He stays calm and doesn’t speak much. He knows what he has to do. He bowls unbelievable yorkers,” he concluded.
After miserably losing the opening Test in Adelaide, their captain to paternity leave and numerous players to injuries, India’s young guns fashioned an unprecedented comeback to win the four-match Test series 2-1.