Sachin Tendulkar has raved about the performance of Mohammed Siraj in the England series, calling him “remarkable” and believes Siraj hasn’t got the credit that he deserves right through his career.
Siraj bowled 1113 deliveries in the series, only the second bowler in the series alongside England’s Chris Woakes to bowl over 1000 balls. With 23 wickets, he was the highest wicket-taker and bowled India to a series equalising win at The Oval in a dramatic fashion on the final day.
“Unbelievable. Superb approach. I like that attitude. Love the spring in his legs. If you don’t look at the scoreboard and just look at his body language you will not be able to make out if Siraj has taken 5 wickets or he hasn’t taken any wicket. The body language, attitudes and approach remains the same,” Tendulkar said in a video on Reddit.
Tendulkar then highlighted Siraj’s attitude and intensity in approach that makes him uncomfortable to batsmen.
“No batsman likes a fast bowler who is in your face relentlessly. If you go ask Joe Root, who is a world-class player and who has made so many runs, will you prefer facing Siraj or someone who bowls quietly and goes, he will undoubtedly prefer the other, because Siraj is always in my face. That’s what he is about. He has bowled about 1000 deliveries in this series and till the last day his approach, the speeds he bowled in his last few deliveries like 90mph it shows jigar- he has a big heart.”
Tendulkar talked about a couple of low points in Siraj’s journey in the England series, the dismissal at Lord’s when India were close to winning, and the drop catch of Harry Brook in the last Test that threatened India’s hold on the game.
“I know when defending at Lord’s he had middled the ball, but there was some stone in front at the pitch and the ball bounced back on to the stumps – it must have been such a setback for him. Also that catch in the final Test (Harry Brook) but his legs touched the ropes. All this happened and I was feeling that he would come up with something special on the last day to kill all these bad things.
“And he did. He was remarkable, the way he started on that last day.” England had needed 35 runs on the final day after the umpires had stopped the game on Sunday evening when the old ball was moving around. The experts had felt that the heavy roller applied on the final morning might flatten the pitch and not help any seam movement. But under cloudy conditions, Siraj made the ball talk to harass the England batsmen. He had a definite plan, bowling away from the off stump, playing on the batsmen’s nerves who kept feeling and searching for the ball. And then for the final wicket, with nearly all fielders at the boundary, he produced a searing yorker – his fifth fastest ball of the series- to uproot the off stump of Gus Atkinson, who had been batting valiantly, shielding the injured Chris Woakes.
“He has always been instrumental in playing a key role whenever we need him to deliver that knockout punch – he has been able to do it in the past and so was the case in this series. People underplay him, the kind of focus he should have on him, doesn’t get credit that he deserves. I love watching him bowl.”
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