India pacer Mohammed Siraj and spinner Kuldeep Yadav were the stars of India’s 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa as they won the third and deciding ODI in Delhi by 7 wickets on October 11, 2022, Tuesday.
While Kuldeep Yadav won the Player of the Match award for his 4/18, Mohammed Siraj won his maiden Player of the Series award for his 5 wickets in the series including the best of 3/38. He also picked two wickets in the third ODI as well, giving India early scalps to keep Proteas on the backfoot.
In the post-match chat with Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj said there was hardly anything for the fast bowlers.
“There was no swing with the new ball. After conceding a couple of boundaries, I realised on what length I must bowl on this track. I quickly realised that bowling bouncers was a good option. So I brought fine leg up and square leg back.I was satisfied with both the wickets (Janneman Malan and Reeza Hendricks) as it was executed according to the plan,” Siraj said.
Siraj credited county cricket for improving his line length and why he was confident of taking wickets with the new ball. The 28-year-old played just one match for Warwickshire against Somerset before he got injured, but bagged a fifer in that match.
“Playing in the county cricket has improved my line and length. I was confident of taking wickets from the new ball. The ball was also coming out of my hand very nicely. I loved the responsibility as well. I was just trying to be consistent and bowl and one length,” said Siraj.
“I was getting a little reverse swing in Ranchi. It was not easy for the batters to hit from the hard length. It worked well for me,” he said.
(The Indian Express Inputs)
