India pacer Mohammed Siraj hailed stand-in captain KL Rahul, saying that he has given the bowlers the utmost freedom to execute their plans on the continued Zimbabwe tour and the crew environment is incredible. Siraj was rewarded for his consistency as opener Takudzwanashe Kaitano obtained an edge within the ninth over for Sanju Samson to tug off a one-handed stunner.
“In West Indies and England I bowled also well, my rhythm was good in the first match as well, so my plan was to hit an area consistently without worrying whether I. would get wickets or not,” Siraj, who took one wicket for 16 runs in eight overs, stated within the post-match press convention.
“First of all, thank you so much, we have won the series. The atmosphere is extremely good. KL Bhai (Rahul) gives a lot of freedom to the bowlers, so the atmosphere is very good. I am enjoying my bowling a lot because I had the outswing from earlier but I was not too confident about it. Now I have worked more on the seam and I have got the confidence as well, and you must have been seeing that it is releasing nicely from my hand. I was bowling with that rhythm only,” Siraj added.
With 40 wickets in 13 Tests, Siraj has impressed in red-ball cricket however he lacked consistency within the white-ball sport.
Asked if he had made any modifications for white-ball cricket, Siraj stated: “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 simply wished to maintain hitting the precise areas and bowl dot balls to construct up strain on the opposition. Starting with the brand new ball, I went for wickets a couple of instances however as you realize white ball would not swing a lot, so I used to be planning to constantly hit one space and bowl maiden overs.”
In five T20Is, Siraj has taken just five wickets, while taking 13 wickets in 10 ODIs.
Chasing 162 to win, India were 97 for 4 at the end of the 14th over before Sanju Samson’s unbeaten 43 off 39 balls took the visitors home with 24.2 overs left.
Asked if there were any worrying signs in the team, Siraj said: “Because the entire was 160 or one thing. We had been 100 for 4 however there was no panic within the dressing room as a result of we wanted simply 40 runs after Ishan Kishan’s wicket.”
The current head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), VVS Laxman, took over the role of India’s head coach for the tour of Zimbabwe with Rahul Dravid given a break ahead of the Asia Cup.
Asked about Laxman’s role, Siraj said: “Laxman Sir was a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad (in IPL) once I was chosen for the primary time. He understands my expertise and offers me a variety of confidence and it feels good when a coach is round.”
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