Mohammed Siraj has had a very indifferent year so far. After rattling South Africa with career-best figures of 6/15 in Cape Town, his graph was on the decline. In fact, he had a lacklustre home season.
Be it against England, Bangladesh or New Zealand, Siraj couldn’t get into the wickets. While he bowled decently in patches, he looked ineffective in large parts. He had taken just 12 wickets in his last eight Test matches and had gone wicketless in 10 out of the 15 innings he bowled in. Thus, there was a bit of pressure on him coming into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The 30-year-old pacer has fared way better away from home than in India. But his blow hot, blow cold nature were something India could ill afford in the first Test in Perth, given that they are already missing Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana is making his Test debut. Jasprit Bumrah needed Siraj to bowl consistently and maintain pressure from his end as well.
That is exactly what the Hyderabad-born fast bowler did. He bowled 27 overs in the match and conceded only 71 runs. In the first innings, he took 2/20 from 13 overs before returning with figures of 3/51 from 14 overs.
Siraj spoke highly about Bumrah’s contribution in his revival and his excellent performance in the first Test. He admitted that the stand-in India captain advised him not to go searching for wickets and only bowl in the right areas. That is something that worked well for Siraj.
“I always keep talking to Jassi bhai [Bumrah]. Even before the first match, I spoke with him about what I was going through. And he just told me one thing – don’t run after wickets, just keep bowling consistently in one area and enjoy your bowling. If you still don’t get wickets, then you come ask me. So, I enjoyed my bowling and I got wickets as well. Australia is a place where a fast bowler enjoys because you get pace and bounce. As a fast bowler, you get everything you want. So, you get a different kind of confidence to come and enjoy your bowling here,” Siraj was quoted saying after India’s pink-ball warm-up game in Canberra.
First pink-ball Test for Siraj

Siraj has never played in a day-night Test. He bowled with the pink-ball for the first time during the warm-up game against Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra. He had figures of 7-1-18-1 and bowled in decent areas. Siraj said that it’s better to bowl on back of a length with the pink ball instead of searching for swing.
“I think that with the pink-ball, it’s better to bowl back of length. Because pitching it up, there’s not a lot of swing, so the more you hit the deck and get it to seam, it will be better for us. I have heard that the ball swings a lot under the lights but I haven’t yet bowled with it under lights. So, when we go to Adelaide and practice, we will try that. And the more practice we get, we’ll know more about what we have to do,” the 30-year-old added.
The second Test starts in Adelaide on the 6th of December. India are 1-0 up in the five-match Test series. They have not lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 10 years.