It was the 15th over of England’s innings in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, and Mohammed Siraj was under the pump despite picking up the wicket of Joe Root in the previous over.
Ben Stokes scored 13 runs off of the right-arm seamer’s fifth over. Granted the first boundary for the over was a proper edge through the cordon, but the second was a disdainful pull through midwicket and the third was a calculated, soft-handed guide to the third man fence.
This over came after an animated exchange of verbal volleys minutes ago. The tension was palpable, and Virat Kohli, who obviously joined in on the ‘banter’, knew better than to remove Siraj now. The skipper couldn’t ride that gravy train for long.
Off the attack, Siraj had to bide his time, watching England grow in confidence. But when it was time to return for his second spell, in the 29th over, he was back to doing what he has been doing since his debut against Australia last year: bowl tight and pick wickets.
Jonny Bairstow was the recipient of a 146.5 kmph-inswinger, and he didn’t have an answer. It was one of the easiest lbw decisions Nitin Menon, the on-field umpire, had to make all day.
“I had seen some of his videos and gathered that he is troubled by the in-coming balls,” explained Siraj in the post-day press conference on Thursday. “So when I got a chance to bowl to him after the tea interval, I decided to try that. The ball tailed in as planned and I had the wicket.”
While that wicket, and that of Root too, were crowd-pleasers, the notable fact was that the pitch wasn’t entirely conducive to pace bowling. Ishant Sharma, Siraj’s senior by some distance, struggled to find purchase despite his tall frame allowing him extra bounce.
Siraj took the pitch out of the equation entirely. He ran in gallantly and ensured the ball landed on good spots repeatedly. The zone that he was in, even when he did miss his run up a couple of times, he went through with the delivery instead of stopping to go back to his mark. He was going to give his captain every reason to keep him on.
“Captain told me to bowl at one spot. He said that’s what my job is, build pressure and keep bowling patiently at one spot,” he revealed. “I had a chat with Ishant and he said the same thing. He told me to not try and that will be better for us. Basic idea is to build pressure and the batsmen will give us wickets. It worked.”
He makes it sound infuriatingly easy, and perhaps that has something to do with 14 wickets in 4 Tests since his debut four months ago, but one cannot deny that the Hyderabadi had more heart to spare than some do as a whole.
“When (Rahul) Dravid saw me playing Ranji Trophy, he told me that I should only focus on my line and length and not try anything. He picked me for India A and even there the focus was the same,” said Siraj when asked of the former India captain’s influence.
“I want to grab every opportunity I get for India. You don’t get too many chances and you should make them count. That’s all I’m doing.”
The good news is, he has the motivation to give it everything every time he’s on the field. The great news is, he has the discipline to succeed even on batting wickets. That’s not a trait to be taken lightly.