Mohammed Siraj put on a fast bowling exhibition in India’s thumping 317-run victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final ODI at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday (January 15).
Defending the huge total of 390, the hosts bundled out the visitors for a paltry 73 in just 22 overs, with Siraj registering the outstanding bowling figures of 4/32 in his 10 overs.
The right-arm pacer ran through Sri Lanka’s top order in the match and finished the three-ODI series with nine scalps to his name.
Speaking after the game, Siraj revealed how bowling with a wobbled seam led to his success in the 50-over series against Sri Lanka.
“With wobbled seam, how much the ball will do neither I know nor the batter. Sometimes it goes straight after pitching other times it can come in sharply. Most of my wickets come through wobbled seam. It is effective for me and I trust it to work for me,” he said in the post-match press conference.
Siraj further added that he used the wobbled seam after his natural inswinger deserted him.
“Inswing was my natural earlier but then it stopped so I also developed outswing. When I did not have the inswing, I developed the wobbled seam. It took a lot of time to get effective and give me confidence. The more I bowled in the nets, the better I got. In the IPL, I spoke to Dale Steyn as well for outswing which helped me a lot.”
“When the IPL season went bad for me, I started focussing on white ball cricket. I worked on it and grew in confidence. I stopped worrying about how my performance would go which was not case earlier. I started focussing only on execution of line and length.”
Talking about the Sri Lanka series, the fast bowler said: “The plan was to take early wickets and put pressure on the opposition.”
India’s next assignment is the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, starting January 18 in Hyderabad. Siraj is excited to play at his home ground in the opening ODI.
“It would be nice to play at the home ground with my family, coaches and friends watching me,” he remarked.
(With PTI Inputs)
