The initial stages of play on the first day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval. Mohammed Siraj was breathing fire, and took little time to dismiss Usman Khawaja with a peach of a delivery. The initial stages of play on day two. Siraj bowled a rank bad over, gifting two half-volleys to Steve Smith which helped the batter get to three figures.
In between those two short passages of play and thereafter, Siraj was perhaps India’s best bowler in the Australian first innings. Not just because he was the most successful bowler. Figures of 28.3-4-108-4 are not overly flattering. But the energy and verve he brought to the team was unmistakable.
It was easy for shoulders to drop when the opposition started the day on 327-3, and got off to a flier, scoring at almost five an over for the first 30-odd minutes. Siraj was the one who brought India back by claiming the precious wicket of Travis Head. It was largely due to him that the Indian bowling unit fared much better on the second day.
Aggressive and even brash at times, this discovery of Bharat Arun, India’s former bowling coach, is in many ways like the Australian fast bowlers of the past, who would stare the batters in the eye and not mind uttering an unpleasant word or two. This trait has got him warnings from umpires at times. But he is the kind of a bowler a captain would like to have in his team. He will keep the whole unit alive when the chips are down.
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This was very evident during the course of the Australian innings. They were on top after losing the first three wickets, especially once Head and Smith cut loose in the final session. But each time Siraj charged in, he gave the impression that he was hell-bent on changing the scenario. His body language was different from the other Indian bowlers. Of course everybody tried, but the bowler from Hyderabad just appeared to be trying harder.
Fast and with the ability to make the ball move in the air and off the seam, Siraj is a tough proposition for international-class batters. Even at The Oval, he was possibly the most consistent of the Indian bowlers when it came to hitting the right length. While others bowled short at times, Siraj found that in-between length which troubled the batters. This meant neither too short, nor too full. He also erred, but not as often as the others.
At 29 years of age, he is not exactly a youngster. But what he brings to the table is valuable for India. For a team that wants to play an aggressive brand of cricket, Siraj is an ideal character. He runs in hard, asks tough questions of the batters and does not mind giving a piece of his mind to them. Most probably, if he stops doing any of these things, he would no longer be what or who he is. And India need him just the way he is.