Mohammed Siraj – In for a long haul after years of toil
Indian fast bowlers making their Test debut on the Australian soil is a romantic entanglement. This alluring pipeline started when India’s legendary speedster Javagal Srinath made his debut in the 1991-92 Australian tour. After Srinath’s prowess came the Irfan Pathan’s wave which got embarked during the tour of 2003-04. Ishant Sharma’s addition although he had made his debut against Bangladesh five months before the tour of 2007-08, his uproar gelled when he was swaying the Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting.
Mohammed Siraj who is the next prospective insertion of this pipeline had a fascinating debut. Not only he registered the third-best match figures (5-77) by a visiting bowler in his debut at the MCG but also fetched second best match figures by a visiting debutant in Australia.
How good has Mohammed Siraj been on debut?#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/J9V8HEgDna
— 100MB (@100MasterBlastr) December 29, 2020
His inception into the playing XI although was a forceful flung but his emergence was surely a trailblazing event thus enabling him now to become second most prominent seamer of the tour at the moment.
Although his proceedings with the red cherry began late where he had to wait till the 1st Day’s Lunch but it immediately took its course when he scalped one of the biggest wickets of the Australian team in the form of Marnus Labuschagne.
His next scalp which was the wicket of tall Cameron Green turned out a puzzling affair for the young right-hander as Siraj trapped him LBW with an in-swinger after a series of away going deliveries.
Siraj’s first spell in the first innings did fetch him the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne but it was his exemplary second spell which exhibited Siraj’s artistry. The spell which comprised nine overs was a textbook display which included a captivating line of the fifth stump consequently allowing him to have movement both ways.
A moment Mohammed Siraj will never forget – his first Test wicket! #OhWhatAFeeling @Toyota_Aus | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/1jfPJuidL4
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 26, 2020
Siraj’s biggest exhibition apart from his three crucial wickets in Australia’s second innings was his resilience especially considering that India were a seamer short when Umesh Yadav got injured. He again scalped the crucial wicket of Cameron Green who was all set to supply resistance to the Australian tail. Out of all the four Indian bowlers, he had the best economy of 1.7.
His success in India’s triumph or in terms of him being Test match ready can be well laid on the back of his first-class numbers. Since 2015 he has been the only seamer who has played most matches (16) for India A. His record in those 16 matches does uphold a rosy picture of him as he has taken 70 wickets at an average of 21.88 which includes a strike rate of 42. His overseas match tally of 12 games in the SENA countries has made him grab 44 wickets as well.
Now with a promising debut at the MCG, it will be interesting to see how Siraj copes up for the remainder but all in all, he is now India’s fifth commanding Test seamer at present.
