Siraj returned with the career-best figures of 6/15 in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.
The right-arm quick ran through the South African batting line-up, returning with his career-best figures of 6/15 to bundle out the hosts for a mere 55 in the very first session of the Test match.
At this stage, it seemed that India would walk with the game but South Africa bundled out the visitors for 153 to restrict the lead to 98 runs.
At the close of play, the Proteas were reeling at 62/3 in their second innings, still trailing India by 36 runs on a pitch assisting the fast bowlers.
After the day’s play, Siraj addressed a press conference, where he was asked if he thought he would come out to bowl twice in a day.
“Did you think so?” Siraj chuckled with a counter question, before adding: “We didn't think also. We had put our feet up but this is cricket. You see both good and bad things.”
Nonetheless, the Hyderabad lad was delighted after having one of his best days in his 23 Tests career. Siraj took even more satisfaction in addressing the mistakes he made during the series opener in Centurion, where he finished with the figures of 2/91 in South Africa's only innings.
“You want the New Year to go well,” Siraj stated. “I realised what I missed in the last game and wanted to compensate and I executed my plans accordingly. I wanted to hit one area consistently and I did that and got rewarded for it. Wicket looks quite similar to Centurion.”
When asked what did he do different in this Test match, Sirja replied: “We (him and Jasprit Bumrah) bowled in partnerships and bowled many maidens unlike last Test match. Bowling so many maidens did create pressure.”
“On these wickets, where the 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 yourself can get confused,” he further remarked.
Mohammed Siraj also thanked Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul for constant communication.
“When a senior bowler is operating and there is a wicket-keeper who advises you on what is the correct length, the job becomes easier as there is a lot of communication. When you are hit for 4-5 boundaries, you know what length to switch to.”
While Siraj refrained from predicting the ideal score for chasing, he said that the Indian team would look to get the Proteas out for as little as possible.
“I can't predict what will happen on the second day. We have to get them out for as little 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 the lead,” he concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)