Sunil Gavaskar has lauded Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj for putting in the hard yards in the nets and not listening to bio-mechanics experts who advise pacers to bowl limited deliveries in the nets. Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah were India’s key assets in the victory against South Africa in Cape Town. India leveled the series 1-1 and shared the Freedom Series trophy with South Africa.
Mohammed Siraj registered figures of just 2/91 in Centurion during the Boxing Day Test which India lost by an innings and 32 runs against South Africa. The right-arm seamer then made a comeback at the Newlands in Cape Town where he took figures of 6/15 in the Proteas’ first innings and bundled them for just 55 which laid the foundation for India’s victory.
Sunil Gavaskar was asked during a discussion on Star Sports, about the change in Siraj’s bowling between the first and second Test, to which he replied, “You also need to put in the effort and he works extremely hard. I have seen Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj practising a lot. Mohammed Shami is not playing currently because he is injured but it’s certain that once he is fit, he will go to the nets and bowl continuously.”
The former India captain added, “They disagree with bio-mechanics experts who say that only 18-20 balls should be bowled. They know that being a fast bowler, you need to bowl. In the last match, he bowled a little further up and resultantly runs were scored against him with drives. He adjusted his length slightly and got six wickets.”
Mohammed Siraj And Jasprit Bumrah Were The Match-Winners For India
Mohammed Siraj was chosen as Player of the Match for his terrific first-innings spell. He also dismissed Aiden Markram, who scored a century in the second innings and was threatening to take the game away from India. He took his wicket and ensured that Rohit Sharma and company did not have to chase a challenging target in the last innings of the Test.
Jasprit Bumrah was also a hero for India in the second Test as he took a figure of 6/61 in the second innings. Bumrah was also elected as the Player of the Series alongside Dean Elgar for taking 12 wickets in just three innings. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj distributed 15 wickets amongst themselves in the Test match and completely rattled the South African batting line-up at Newlands in Cape Town.
India will now face England in a five-match Test series starting from January 25. The first Test will be played in Hyderabad whereas the other four venues are going to be Vishakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamsala. Ben Stokes will be leading a young England side and the Indian squad will be announced shortly. India is currently second on the WTC points table whereas England is eighth.
England will be hoping to improve their record in the WTC points table. However, the rank turners in India will be a tough challenge to pass as India has not lost a Test series at home since 2012.
