Mohammed Siraj was handed the difficult task of bowling three overs at the death (46th, 48th and 50th) by his captain Shikhar Dhawan and the pacer was upto the challenge as he bowled a lot of searing yorkers with the ball reversing a bit in the closing stages of the 1st ODI on Friday, July 22nd.
West Indies needed 15 runs off the final over with the well-set Akeal Hosein and the hard-hitting Romario Shepherd looking dangerous, but Siraj conceded only 11 to help India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Siraj, who delivered under pressure on Friday had a poor IPL 2022 season with Royal Challengers Bangalore, particularly in the death overs, which disappointed many.
Speaking after the thrilling match to his teammate, Shreyas Iyer, who scored 54, Siraj said, “I was backing my yorkers to come good in the last over and the ball was also reversing so I wanted to execute them as best as I could,”
The duo then discussed about the emotions they felt during the final couple of deliveries in the match when West Indies needed only 7 runs to win.
“I was standing at deep midwicket and my heart was beating wildly but what were your thoughts,” Shreyas asked Siraj to which he replied, “My heart was also racing. I was representing my country and the last 4 balls I had bowled went well so I was backing myself. I was pretty confident and the end result was for everyone to see.”
Siraj then asked Shreyas about his dance moves on the boundary after grabbing the catch of Sharmah Brooks off the bowling of Shardul Thakur.
“The crowd was on my back saying ‘drop a catch’ so when a catch came and I caught it, I just did a little dance for them,” Iyer said before showing off his dance moves on the request of Siraj.
