Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has revealed that he wanted to keep bowling Mohammed Siraj in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka but got a message from trainer that they have to stop him now as the World Cup is around the corner.
Siraj bowled a fiery spell, picking up 6-21 in the seven overs he bowled against the hosts at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Sunday. This is Siraj’s best bowling performance in ODIs as he played an instrumental role in skittling out Sri Lanka for only 50 runs.
Siraj got the ball to swing and seam and breathed down the neck of the Sri Lankan batters with his accuracy. The right-arm pacer ticked the right boxes as he got four wickets in the fourth over of the innings.
Siraj accounted for Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka. He also became the second joint quickest to claim a five-wicket haul in ODIs (16 balls) and matched former Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas’ record.
“We all complimented him and were behind him when he was bowling that spell. He bowled seven overs which is a lot. I wanted to keep bowling him, but I got a message from our trainer that we need to stop him now. He was also quite desperate to bowl. That’s the nature of any bowler or any batter when they see the opportunity, they want to pounce on it,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
Rohit added that Siraj was in a fantastic rhythm but at the same time, it was crucial to manage his workload.
“But that’s where my job comes in and I want to make sure everything stays a little calm and you don’t over exaggerate a little too much. That’s the call. I remember against Sri Lanka in Trivandrum he was in a similar situation, he bowled eight-nine overs on a trot, he was on four wickets. But seven overs is good enough,” he added.
Siraj was able to get the swing on a dry surface after Shanaka won the toss and decided to bat first. Rohit lauded the fast bowler for bringing his A-game to the table.
“Siraj has to be specially mentioned here, when the pitch is looking that dry, to get the ball to move around like that is a special skillset. I hope he continues that for a little longer, at the same time we just need to look after all the bowlers, make sure they’re fresh, and keep them ready for the games in front of us now,” Rohit concluded.
India will play a three-match ODI series against Australia before the World Cup.
