Shamik Chakrabarty in Ahmedabad
Mohammed Siraj ran in from the pavilion end, pitched the ball around off stump and made it seam away. Roston Chase is one of the handful of batsmen in this West Indies side with the right temperament to play Test cricket. He was applying himself well, batting on 24. The delivery, though, was nigh-on unplayable. A tentative forward defence saw him outside-edge it to Dhruv Jurel behind the stumps. The ball would probably have tested even Vivian Richards. The present-day West Indies captain was a sitting duck.
Around this time last year, Siraj was almost on the verge of denouncing the credit he had accumulated in the bank through his bowling exploits. In home conditions, he was struggling to find the right length. The fast bowler picked up the phone and spoke to former India bowling coach Bharat Arun. Besides a few technical inputs, Arun told Siraj not to try too hard for his wickets. “You need to enjoy your bowling” was the best piece of advice.
The course correction began in Australia, although Siraj was still inconsistent. His fiery send-off to Travis Head actually accounted for more column inches than his bowling performance. In England in the summer, he made the elevation from a workhorse to a hero. On the first day of the first Test between India and West Indies here in Ahmedabad on Thursday, the 31-year-old picked up where he left off. Siraj is no longer a support act to Jasprit Bumrah. He is now a ‘partner in crime’ with his Jassi bhai.
Two days ago, the pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium looked lush green. When the match started today, the colour had faded considerably, credit it to the lawn mowers. The overhead and underfoot conditions still assisted seam bowling, and Siraj moved the ball in the air and off the deck.
Tagenarine Chanderpual gloved a back-of-a-length delivery down the leg side behind the stumps. Brandon King shouldered arms to a straight ball to see his stumps go for a walk. Scramble seam did the trick for Siraj. Alick Athanaze was deceived by a fuller delivery, as the left-hand batter attempted a glory shot through the cover region. Siraj’s experience prevailed. His first spell read, 7-3-19-3. Then came the jaffa in his second spell — the ball of the day yet. As the tourists were all out for 162 in their first innings, Siraj returned with 4/40 from 14 overs.
A couple of months ago, ahead of the final Test at The Oval, the team management had given Siraj a free hand to decide if he would be playing or not. He had already bowled a staggering 145 overs in the series on flat tracks. And the think-tank was concerned about his workload. But Bumrah had opted out of the Test, India were trailing 2-1 in the series, and Siraj was adamant that he must play. He returned from the series after bowling 185.3 overs, taking 23 wickets, and never complaining about fatigue.
Day 1 of this Test showed just how much Siraj is now enjoying his bowling.
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