India speedster Mohammed Siraj has stated that fast bowling coach Morne Morkel refers to him as a “warrior.” Siraj also added that the advice from the coaching staff and vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah helped him to get back in form with the ball in the first Test against Australia in Perth, where he claimed five wickets in India’s 295-run win.
Siraj said (via ESPNcricinfo): “Morne [Morkel, India’s current bowling coach] keeps telling me that ‘you are a warrior. You’ll get us wickets, but you just keep enjoying your bowling’. I always keep talking to Jassi bhai [Bumrah]. Even before the first match, I spoke with him about what I was going through. And he just told me one thing – don’t run after wickets, just keep bowling consistently in one area and enjoy your bowling. If you still don’t get wickets, then you come ask me. So I enjoyed my bowling and I got wickets as well,” he added.
ALSO READ: “Shubman’s captaincy is very good” – Ravi Bishnoi on Shubman Gill
“Australia is a place where a fast bowler enjoys because you get pace and bounce. As a fast bowler, you get everything you want. So you get a different kind of confidence to come and enjoy your bowling here. When I wasn’t getting wickets, I went a bit deep into why I wasn’t getting them. In India you know that spinners bowl most of the overs, so there it’s a little tough to get wickets in [the] five-six overs [you get as a fast bowler]. So I just became a bit upset about why I wasn’t getting wickets. But now I am having a lot of fun,” he added.
Mohammed Siraj further shared the challenges of playing with the pink ball in the upcoming second Test in Adelaide as well, which will begin on Friday, December 6.
“This [pink] ball has a synthetic feeling. This is different to the red ball we play with. There can be a bit of confusion due to the ball, but it’s just one match so we just have to focus on that and practice for it and we’ll improve day-by-day. The seam is very hard. It’s bright, and quite big. The more you practice with it, the better you get,” he added.
“I think that with the pink ball, it’s better to bowl back of length. Because pitching it up, there’s not a lot of swing, so the more you hit the deck and get it to seam, it will be better for us. I have heard that the ball swings a lot under the lights but I haven’t yet bowled with it under lights. So when we go to Adelaide and practice, we will try that,” he added.
