AUS v IND 2020-21: Siraj reveals how inexperienced Indian bowlers planned Australia’s downfall at Gabba

Total experience of Indian bowlers in Brisbane Test was 4 matches, with two debutants.

Total experience of Indian bowlers in Brisbane Test was 9 Tests, with two debutantsThe Indian team came into the fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane already missing their first-choice players, lost due to injury. They were further hit when Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin also missed the final Test due to their injuries, leaving India with a massively inexperienced bowling attack.

Washington Sundar and T Natarajan were given their Test debuts, while Shardul Thakur played his second Test, three years after playing his first one. This left Mohammed Siraj as the most experienced pacer in the team playing his 3rd Test match.

The combined bowling experience of the Australian bowling line-up in the Brisbane Test (Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, Green, Lyon) was 254 Tests. The number for the Indian bowlers (Siraj, Thakur, Saini, Natarajan, and Sundar) was 4 Tests.

Siraj, in an interview with the Times of India, revealed how he, Shardul Thakur, and T Natarajan forged the 'build pressure from both ends to get Aussie wickets' strategy.

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"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. We also lost some big players due to injuries. But such is our support and coaching staff that they can make anything possible," Siraj told TimesofIndia.com from Hyderabad.

"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," Mohammed Siraj said.

26-year-old Siraj had picked 5 wickets in his debut Test at MCG and picked two wickets at SCG. He went onto pick 7 wickets in Brisbane to help India win the Test series for the second time in Australia.

Shardul Thakur picked 7 wickets as well, including 4/61 in the first innings, while Natarajan picked 3 wickets on his debut, and Sundar picked four wickets as well in his first Test.

"We (Shardul, 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 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," Siraj said.

Siraj also finished as the highest wicket-taker for his team in the Test series. He claimed 13 wickets in 3 Tests.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 25 Jan, 2021

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