Mohammed Siraj opens up on struggles during Test matches in Sri Lanka; ‘If I’m not in sync, I simply can’t explode’
Mohammed Siraj admitted his body can’t handle long breaks after questions were raised in the India pacer’s dip in form in the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka last month. During the series, the right-arm pacer just managed four wickets in four innings, thus putting a question mark on his game.
Not just in the Test series against Sri Lanka, the dip in Siraj’s pace was noticed during the Duleep Trophy final too, where the South Zone pacer was operating at a low of 125-130 mph during his wicketless first innings. However, he did extracting some movement at Chepauk in the second innings and hit the deck at close to 135 mph more often.
Explaining his dip in pace, Siraj revealed the two-month break after the Indian Premier League (IPL), which ended in May, was the main reason behind all. “I am purely a rhythm bowler,” Siraj told reporters after the Duleep Trophy final ended in Chennai.
“If I am not in sync, I can’t explode through the crease. That was the struggle in Sri Lanka – my run-up felt disjointed. Some strides were too short, others were too long, and that broke my flow and cost me pace.. A short break is fine, but in my ten-year career, I had never taken two full months off,” added Siraj, before adding that this will be a new learning curve for him.
A regular in Indian Test team, Siraj has bowled the highest number of deliveries (1640 overs) among the Indians since 2020 across formats as a pacer. Australia’s Mitchell Starc (1795.2) is atop the list. India’s Jasprit Bumrah comes second among the Indians with 1482 overs.
How Mohd Shami helped Mohd Siraj?
For Siraj, getting back into his rhythm was the main target in the Duleep Trophy final. He even asked South Zone captain Tilak Varma to give longer spells, which helped tremendously for the 32-year-old. But helped Siraj more was having partner-in-crime Mohammed Shami at the same venue.
The 36-year-old veteran, who was turning up for East Zone, Shami’s little inputs helped Siraj. “In the first innings, Siraj wasn’t quite finding his natural rhythm compared to how he bowled later. I just reminded him that to get back on top, he needed to return to his core strengths,” Shami was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.
“When your run-up and rhythm are in sync, your line and length fall into place automatically,” Shami explained. Siraj admitted that in the first innings, he was forcing himself, thus going off his rhythm. But when he rectified the same in the same, Siraj was back in full flow.
What’s next for Mohammed Siraj?