“I could sense I wasn’t enjoying bowling,” he said at the end of the tour match against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Sunday. “As a person, I am someone who gets a different feeling when I enjoy my bowling, even if I am not getting wickets. And now, when I was not getting wickets, I went a little deeper into why I was not getting them. In India, you know spinners bowl most of the overs, so it is a bit difficult to get wickets there. [the] five-six overs [you get as a fast bowler]. So I was a little upset why I wasn’t getting wickets. But now I’m having a lot of fun.”
Although it has only been one match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Siraj is already closing in on his wicket tally in the last three months, having taken five in Perth. He contacted former Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun to help him find his centre.
“I spoke to Bharat Arun sir and this is what is happening to me,” Siraj said. “Because he has known me for a long time and he has seen my bowling for a long time. So he just told me to enjoy and don’t run after wickets. Just enjoy and you will get wickets. And before I travelled, I met [fielding coach] Dilip sir in Hyderabad and we practiced together too. So I felt good and now I’m enjoying it.
“morne [Morkel, India’s current bowling coach] He keeps telling me that ‘you are a warrior’. “You’ll get us wickets, but keep enjoying your bowling.”
“This [pink] The ball has a synthetic feel,” Siraj said. “This is different from the red ball we play with. There may be a bit of confusion because of the ball, but it’s just one game, so we have to focus on that and practice and we will improve day by day. The sewing is very hard. It is bright and quite large. The more you practice with it, the better you will get.
“I think with the pink ball, it’s better to bowl it backwards. Because bowling it up, there’s not much swing, so the more you hit the cover and get it, the better it will be for us.
“I’ve heard the ball swings a lot under the lights, but I haven’t played with it under the lights yet. So when we go to Adelaide and practice, we’ll try it. And the more we practice, we’ll know more about what we have to do.” do.”
“I always keep talking to Jassi bhai [Bumrah]”said Siraj. “Even before the first match I spoke to him about what was happening. And he only told me one thing: Don’t run behind wickets, just keep bowling consistently in one area and enjoy bowling. If you still don’t get wickets, then come and ask me. So I enjoyed bowling and got wickets too.
“Australia is a place where a fast bowler enjoys because he gets pace and bounce. As a fast bowler, you get everything you want. So you get a different kind of confidence to come and enjoy bowling here.”
