‘It wasn’t a 55-all out pitch’: Siraj after manic 23-wicket day in IND vs SA

An irrepressible Mohammed Siraj produced the best bowling effort of his Test career to stun South Africa into submission on the eventful opening day of the second Test that witnessed 23 wickets falling across three innings, in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Winning the toss and electing to bat on a sunny afternoon, the hosts lost opener Aiden Markram in the fourth over to Siraj who triggered a swift capitulation by the home side inside 24 overs.

By the time his unchanged nine-over spell ended, Siraj had accounted for six wickets, conceding just 15 runs. Five of those dismissals were fashioned behind the stumps — caught ‘keeper or in slips — indicating his impeccable control and consistency in the off-stump channel. Known to offer steep bounce and swing, the Newlands pitch helped the fast bowlers all day and Siraj’s ability to pitch the ball in the right areas was all that was needed to force false shots from the batters.

Siraj admitted he didn’t expect the pitch to behave that way after he had the first look at the strip before the day’s play. “When I saw the wicket in morning, it didn’t feel it was a 55-all out wicket. It was quite sunny so I didn’t expect the pitch to assist that much. Also, bowling is all about partnerships. There was consistent pressure from Jasprit Bumrah at the other end. He didn’t get many wickets but he created a lot of pressure,” Siraj told bowling coach Paras Mhambrey on BCCI.tv.

‘Bowled in partnerships with Bumrah’: Siraj

“We (him and Jasprit Bumrah) bowled in partnerships and bowled many maidens unlike in the last Test match. Bowling so many maidens did create pressure,” added Siraj whose nine-over burst included three maidens.

The fast bowler revealed that he relied on releasing the ball rather than hitting the deck which helped him extract maximum assistance from the track. “I had a feeling that release will be more effective today. The effort ball was manageable on this pitch. If you look at the results too, release was better bet on this wicket,” he said.

The 29-year-old also credited wicketkeeper KL Rahul for constant communication.

“When there is the wicketkeeper who advises you on what is the correct length, your job becomes easier. When you are hit for 4-5 boundaries, you know what length to switch to,” he said.

‘Don’t try too much on these wickets’: Siraj

“On these wickets, where ball is doing so much, often bowlers tend to think, ‘let me try and bowl an outswinger darting from leg to off or get one to bend back from angle but one should just stick to one line. If you hit areas, wickets will come automatically. If you try many things, you can get confused,” Siraj observed.

Reflecting on his learnings after the Centurion Test that India lost in three days by an innings and 113 runs, Siraj said he was guilty of trying too hard.

“In the last match, I knew I had conceded a lot of runs. That was because I was guilty of trying too hard. For the first time in my career I had to wait till the 24th over to get a maiden over. I understood where I went wrong; I didn’t even feel the need to watch my videos to analyse,” he said.

South Africa were 62/3 at the close of play, still 36 runs in arrears, but Siraj steered clear of any predictions. “I can’t predict what will happen on the second day. We have to get them out for as less as possible and we don’t need to think too far as we are still 40 runs ahead and we have to see how many we can get before they take lead,” he signed off.