Bharath Ramaraj in Colombo
There was collective hysteria among Indian fielders and Mohammed Siraj at the Premadasa Stadium. All the celebrations in the middle were juxtaposed by a deathly silence in the stands. Something implausible must have taken place on the field for all the deafening noise to suddenly disappear, perhaps into the dark clouds hovering above the stadium. It was Siraj, the man from Hyderabad, who had silenced the crowd with a sensational over where he took four wickets.
Although they had already lost Kusal Perera by then, there was still belief among the home fans that Sri Lanka would put up a fight. After all, the trio of Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka were in good nick. But in a matter of just three or four minutes, their hopes were snuffed out by Siraj. Sri Lanka were 8 for 1 when his second over began, and 12 for 5 at the end of it.
In fact, everything happened so quickly that it took a while to process it in the mind. For a minute or two, just imagine a bowler swinging it away and forcing tentative prods, nipping it back into the right-hander, alongside whistling past the outside edge over a couple of overs. It was a fast-bowling clinic on display.
If you closely analyse Siraj’s game-breaking spell, his key strengths were the 3/4 seam delivery, outswing and unremitting control. Incidentally, the 3/4 seam delivery has turned out to be Siraj’s most trusted arrow in his weaponry ever since he learnt to bowl it around five years ago.
Siraj basically holds the ball at a kind of 45-degree angle and for it to wobble in the air. As it comes out scrambled, the batter would be in two minds – whether it would nip back into the right-hander or perhaps straighten a bit on the angle. It is a simple strategy – If a bowler doesn’t know which way the ball would move after pitching, then his opponent also wouldn’t have much of a clue.
A touch of moisture also perhaps played a part in ensuring there was some movement off the seam. Before the game started, there was a rain shower. Even though the tireless groundsmen quickly covered the pitch and the rest of the stadium, a bit of moisture would have likely seeped under.
The above-mentioned points about Siraj’s bowling can be quantified. But there was another element to his bowling that is hard to imagine. The zone that Siraj would have found himself in. Perhaps one has to dig deep just to visualise it.
The knees were pumping. Then the thud-thud sounds of his fluid strides as Siraj approached the crease. As he was in rhythm, he probably wouldn’t have even experienced the grass beneath his feet before he zipped through the crease. It was a rhythmic lead-up and a breathtaking finish.
When a bowler is in rhythm and taking wickets, it is tough to get the ball out of his hand. And that is exactly what happened with Siraj as well. “He bowled seven overs in that spell, and seven overs is a lot. So, I got a message from the trainer that we have to stop him now,” Rohit Sharma, the India skipper said, after lifting the Asia Cup trophy.
“He (Siraj) was quite desperate to bowl. That is the nature of any batter or bowler, they want to pounce when they see any opportunity. That’s where my job comes in. I make sure that everyone stays a little calm and you don’t over-exert yourself.”
In a lifetime, there can be a few I-was-there moments. Perhaps three or four decades from now, while sitting on a rocking chair, one would reminisce about such moments. Siraj’s 6 for 21 is one such fond memory that would echo in the mind on numerous occasions over a lifetime. Something else also would keep repeating – the sweet melody of the drums amid the cacophony of sounds created by a jam-packed house. Somehow, it felt as if Siraj’s rhythmic run-up was in tune with those drums. It was a kind of jugalbandhi – the beating drums and the thud-thud sounds of a fast bowler, and impending doom.