He is turning into a very fine bowler at this level – Zaheer Khan showers praise on Mohammed Siraj

Mohammed Siraj put on a show at the Queen’s Park Oval courtesy of an extraordinary performance with the ball in the second India vs West Indies Test, which is simply a continuum of what he has been doing in the past year. Siraj has been one of India’s most successful bowlers across all formats of the game and he has been consistently delivering for a while now.

Miyan magic was up in its most blazing avatar as West Indies faltered again despite a decent start and for that game-changing spell, in which Siraj brought about five wickets in seven overs at the start of Day four, he was awarded the Player of the Match.

Former India and RCB bowler, Zaheer Khan, had very high praises reserved for the youngster and made no attempts to hold them back, particularly after a continued display of brilliance from Siraj. In an interview with Jio Cinema, Zaheer said, “Siraj has now been with the team for a while and has been playing that third seamer’s role. Bumrah and Shami were the ones who were carrying the pace attack and Siraj played a defensive role. But here, he got the opportunity of taking the responsibility and he has put his hands up. He is turning into a very fine bowler at this level.”

He further added, “You have seen his approach with regards to taking wickets has remained the same. You have seen him setting those fields, which are predominantly on-side fields, since he’s looking to attack the stumps. But the moment the ball started going away from the right-handed batter at the end of Day 3, things started changing for him. He must have planned it like that, getting into Day 4.”

Zaheer concluded by saying, “That early breakthrough always helps and when you get that wicket in the first one or two overs, that sets the tone. How fantastically he bowled that spell. He used the variation of the wobbly seam very well. Those deliveries came at an angle where the batters were forced to play. So, as a batter, you can’t just leave those deliveries.”