Mohammed Siraj understands his bowling a lot better now: Rohit Sharma

Mohammed Siraj has been doing some serious heavy lifting in the longer formats of the sport where he has found himself amongst wickets, concurrently producing some miserly figures. Last night was another such impeccable display of aggression and most importantly a string of match-defining moments where he returned with a double whammy to destabilise the Kiwi batting towards the end of the innings.

The Indian captain, Rohit Sharma has been highly impressed with the way Mohammed Siraj has bowled of late and believes that he will be a crucial player in both Tests and ODIs not only when Australia come knocking, but also in the coming years.

Talking in a media-interaction with the BCCI, Rohit said, “He is a very important player for us. He has improved his line and length a lot in the last two years. Now we are getting to see his outswing. He was not known for his swing but he did that against Sri Lanka. That is very good for the team if he can do that with the new ball consistently.”

He further added, “He understands his bowling a lot better now which is a big thing in my view. He also knows what the team wants from him. All in all, he has become a very good bowler for us. He can take wickets in all phases and we need bowlers like him. We need to manage him and keep him fresh for the World Cup as well as the upcoming Tests against Australia.”

Rohit concluded by talking about India’s middle-order exploits in recent times, stating, “That is one aspect where we can be challenged if we lose early wickets or in the middle order. It is something that can worry you. Having said that, if you have seven good batters who can do the job for us in any situation then you can look at playing combinations as well. We will be playing (World Cup) all over India in different conditions. We need to assess everything. Whether we can play with three spinners. Luckily we have got spinners who can bat -Axar, Washy (Sundar), Shahbaz and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja).”