India’s new ball weapon Mohammed Siraj is having a good run in the ongoing ODI series against Zimbabwe. The right-armer has bowled with utmost discipline, delivering as many as four maidens in the two ODIs so far in Harare.
Siraj has constantly applied the pressure from one end that has helped yield wickets at the other. He finished with figures of 1/16 in eight overs in the second ODI, which the tourists won by five wickets to clinch the three-match series.
In the absence of senior bowlers, Siraj has led the pace attack well and revealed that hitting consistent areas has been the key to his success in Zimbabwe and in the recent few outings against England as well as West Indies.
“In West Indies and England also I bowled well, my rhythm was good in the first match as well, so my plan was to hit an area consistently without worrying whether I will get wickets or not,” said Siraj as quoted by ICC.
The Hyderabad pacer mentioned that his main focus was to bowl with the right line and length and at consistent areas because the white leather doesn’t swing as much as the red cherry.
“I just kept belief on myself, because ups and downs are part of everyone’s life, so I just kept belief that I can do it no matter if it is a white ball or red ball. So just wanted to keep hitting the right areas and bowl dot balls to build up pressure on the opposition. Starting with the new ball, I went for wickets a few times, but as you know, the white ball doesn’t swing much, so I was planning to consistently hit one area and bowl maiden overs,” added Siraj.
