Shamik Chakrabarty in Ahmedabad
Wobble seam, and a wobbling West Indies — that was the theme on Day 1 of the first Test here in Ahmedabad. Mohammed Siraj gave a masterclass in scramble-seam bowling with the new ball and semi-old. The ball moved left and right, and sometimes it held its line. The West Indies batsmen looked clueless.
Brandon King likes to play his shots. He raced to 13 with three fours, but when Siraj started to make the ball come into him with a wobble seam, he was caught in the quagmire. The delivery that dismissed him landed a touch outside off. King shouldered arms, for he seemingly had no idea which way the ball would go. Poor judgment from the batter, as Siraj had been bringing the ball back into him that over. The middle stump went for a walk. From the bowler’s point of view, he beautifully set up his prey before delivering the sucker punch.
“I was able to execute it the way I had planned for it,” Siraj told reporters after the day’s play. “Two balls before, he was hit on the pads. I thought about bowling in the line of the stumps and I was able to execute what I had thought of.”
Roston Chase fell prey to a jaffa. A full delivery pitched just outside off and from the press box, it felt like a late away movement did the trick. At the presser, Siraj corrected the misconception. “With the wobble seam, the ball either comes in or cuts. But that delivery kept straightening from the shiny side, while I bowled it with a wobble seam,” he said, after taking 4/40 in West Indies’ first innings.
The ability to evolve is the hallmark of a top player. Over the last few months, Siraj has risen from a very effective support bowler to a leader of the bowling pack. A good student of the game, he has sharpened his skillset, almost perfecting the art of bowling wobble-seam deliveries. He has a couple of fifers and two four-fors in his last five Tests.
“When I realised that in-swing was not coming on naturally for me, I worked on out-swing and I also kept bowling with the wobble seam in practice. I gained confidence with it,” Siraj gave the lowdown. “It has helped me a lot in international cricket and it is a very important weapon for me. When out-swing doesn’t work for me, wobble seam does, and it gives me success. When I realised there wasn’t much swing today, I used it.”
Siraj’s progression from good to outstanding couldn’t have come at a better time for Indian cricket. Mohammed Shami’s career has entered the twilight zone, while Jasprit Bumrah, the great fast bowler, is somewhat crippled by his workload management. Siraj has stood up to be counted.
