India pacer Mohammed Siraj on Thursday mentioned the crew deliberate to bowl solely bouncers to Travis Head no matter the end result after his counterattacking hundred on the opening day of the World Test Championship last.
Head’s 163 off 174 balls has put Australia in a commanding place on the second day on the Oval. The Indians’ techniques of not utilizing the quick ball in opposition to Head was questioned on day one, forcing them to alter their plans the next day.
Siraj ultimately removed him with a brief ball on the leg facet.
“There was sticky bounce yesterday morning and seam movement. Thereafter, there was not enough swing from the six metre length and batters were having it easy. Head batted extraordinarily as well. We could have bowled with better lines,” mentioned Siraj, who was India’s standout bowler with 4 wickets in Australia’s first-innings complete of 469 all out.
Siraj felt they bought the required luck with the quick ball on day two.
“We determined to bowl bouncer solely to Head and if he get hit from there then so be it. We caught to it and bought success. We constructed stress didn’t give too many runs that additionally helped. We used bouncers yesterday as effectively however the possibilities went within the hole.
“There were four-five chances off my bowling only. If we did not bowl well, Australia would have crossed 500,” he mentioned.
Siraj added that the wicket had extra tempo and uneven bounce on day two.
“There is more pace in the wicket and there is uneven bounce. We also bowled well but the way Head batted he forced us to push our lengths back.” On throwing the ball again to Steve Smith after the Australia accomplished his hundred within the first over of the day, he added: “It was nothing. I was just enjoying. It is important to do that as it is a long day,” he added.