IND vs AUS | Mohammed Siraj reaped rewards for being consistent, asserts Jasprit Bumrah

Mohammed Siraj was terrific with the ball and even though he seemed to have been missing the line of the attack in his first spell, he corrected that pretty early. Coming round the wicket to Travis Head and later setting Cameron Green up with a barrage of outswingers resulted in a solid debut day and the Indian team was elated by that. Jasprit Bumrah, being the senior partner out there, was encouraging in his approach and heaped praise on the Hyderabadi pacer.

“He made his debut. He didn’t bowl in the first session so he was waiting for his chance. When he came after the lunch session, there was not a lot happening. He was consistent in his approach and when the ball moved a bit, he found his edge. For a debut, he bowled really well and that must help his confidence. That is a very heartening sign for us and I hope he can continue,” Bumrah said in the post-match press conference.

Ravichandran Ashwin came to bowl the 11th of the innings even though the ball was seaming around and it reaped rewards, with the offspinner sending Steve Smith back for a duck. That success would, however, keep India grounded given Nathan Lyon can do magic with his craft, but Bumrah was not really concerned.

“The ball turned a lot because of the moisture. We, as a team, look to control what is in our control. We don’t look at what happened previously. If batting first helps or not. We are trying to do the things that are in our control. At the moment, we are looking at how many runs we can add to the total tomorrow.”

Ajinkya Rahane not only excelled with his bowling changes but also with his field set-ups. The 32-year-old’s clever field-placement, in fact, accounted for the wicket of a well-set Marnus Labuschagne, who slotted a ball straight into the hands of Shubman Gill at a slightly backward square leg. Bumrah revealed that the quirky field-placements were made in consultation with the bowlers, who varied their lines and lengths pertinent to the conditions. 

“There was constant discussion going on between the bowlers and the other guys, with the captain. The wicket changed after the first session as well - the moisture went away, it got better to bat on. So we were adjusting the fields according to the lines we were trying to bowl. We were trying to communicate (to Rahane) what kind of lines we were trying to bowl, so he could set the field accordingly,” said the 27-year-old.