Mohammed Siraj – The ace in the first powerplay in ODIs

Not every day do you get an opportunity to confront a host of demons who have haunted you for almost 11 years and reared their ugly heads again, hoping to slide in another crumbling defeat and leave you brooding about what went wrong and when is the next time you get to expunge the curse. You get these opportunities very rarely. You either grab them by the scruff of their neck or you let it become an infamous slice of history that would always remain as a blemish in your sky full of stars.

Team India was on the brink of one such moment when they hosted South Africa for a three-match ODI series. The series opener saw the Indian bowlers wobbling and spasming under the heat of the Proteas' willows. By the time the game was done, they were defeated and the management had a boatload of thoughts adorning their already overflowing platter of concerns.

Under such circumstances, you need a hero. A hero who has known all of it, the pain of battles, the pain of hurts and most importantly the pain of being written off. And yet, these heroes, keep on coming back. The only thing they know is how to fight. The battles won’t be pleasant, it won’t be slick and neither at the end of it all, the numbers won’t be somewhat imperious, eclipsing the world. Just know that there will be battles and even if the entire planet shies away, they will stay and fight. One such warrior for Team India against the mighty South Africans was Mohammed Siraj.

As the T20 World Cup knocked, the first-string Indian players embarked upon their flight bound to Australia and a flurry of youngsters were asked to defend the fort against the marauding Proteas. A few experienced campaigners were thrown in the mix and even though Siraj is only 13 games old in ODIs, he was one of the seniors.

The opener of the series saw him getting hammered with a wicket-less spell. However, he came back strongly in the following contest, bagging the all-important scalp of Quinton de Kock and following it up with another important breakthrough of Reeza Hendricks, the man who threatened to take away the game from India. He finished the contest with figures of 10-1-38-3 that left the visitors short of their anticipated destination by a fair bit.

Siraj was once again instrumental in the series decider at New Delhi, registering the wickets of Janneman Malan and Reeza Hendricks again, this time the latter falling for a struggling 3 that cost him 21 balls. As chaos reigned supreme in the Indian capital, in South Africa’s sojourn with the willow in their hands, Siraj bowled 5 overs and only conceded 17 runs.

These numbers are already a burning testimony to the kind of brilliance that Mohammed Siraj has shown in the longer formats of the game. A stat that has been overlooked in the deluge of nascent numerical analytics, is that in 2022, he has provided regular breakthroughs to Team India in the opening powerplay, an aspect that strangulates the opposition early, especially when the number of fielders outside the circle are on the lesser side.

In the ongoing calendar year, the scalp of Reeza Hendricks was Siraj’s 12th claim in the opening powerplay, the most by any bowler from a full-member team. His average in the first powerplay has been an astonishing 15.66 and he has bowled at an economy rate of just 3.54. His closest pursuer is New Zealand’s fast bowling ace, Trent Boult with 10 wickets.

Before Siraj was thrown into the mix this year, since 2020 to their last ODI against South Africa, India had claimed only 9 wickets from the opening powerplay at a questionable average of 115.77. The inclusion of Mohammed Siraj in the squad has reshaped these figures.

Since Siraj has made a comeback to the Indian side, their average has improved to 21.10 in the first powerplay and the economy rate has dropped to 4.22 runs per over.

Even though there is a long way ahead and Mohammed Siraj will have to continue what he is doing, going by the naked numbers, it is fair to say that Miyan has already had an impact and this is extremely important to the Indian ranks that he continues to deliver if he wants to make it to the ODI World Cup squad for 2023 at home. However, for now, let’s relish that the demon that we spoke about earlier was conquered and Mohammed Siraj proved to be a fine craftsman, constituting handsomely to India’s 11-year-long cause.