India’s gun fast bowler Mohammed Siraj said he worked hard on his consistency and tried to be relentless with his lengths in the second Test match against South Africa at Newlands, Cape Town. Siraj was on a roll in South Africa’s first innings as he bagged his best Test bowling figures of 6-15 in the nine overs he bowled.

Thus, he played an instrumental role in skittling out the Proteas at 55 runs, their lowest ever in Test cricket since readmission. Siraj accounted for Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Tony de Zorzi, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne, and Marco Jansen. The Hyderabad pacer bowled all his nine overs on the trot in a single spell.

Siraj consistently bowled in the corridor of uncertainty and reaped rewards for his accurate length. Furthermore, Siraj also got the big wicket of Aiden Markram, who scored a fighting century for the Proteas in the second innings.

Ergo, Siraj was awarded the Player of the Match for his fine bowling performance in the first innings.

Siraj said in the post-match presentation, “It’s my best figures in Test career. I tried to be consistent, hit the right areas and not think too much. I wasn’t consistent in the previous match and that’s why we leaked a lot of runs. Worked hard on consistency and tried to be relentless with my lengths. That gave me a lot of rewards.”

On sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj said, When we play together, he (Bumrah) gets the message earlier. We try to analyse the wicket a little quicker so that the communication goes to the bowling circuit that this is the wicket and this is what we are looking to do.

Giving his gratitude to the fans, Siraj concluded, “Thank you so much, keep supporting, keep loving.”

India will next face Afghanistan in a three-match T20I series, starting 11 January.