Mohammed Siraj
Mohammed Siraj managed to pick only one wicket in the first innings of the ongoing Test against Australia but his ability to achieve swing at The Gabba caught the eye of many fans. Playing only his third Test for India, the Hyderabadi pacer had to fill Jasprit Bumrah's shoes in the fourth and final Test in Brisbane.
Leading the Indian pace unit, Siraj dismissed opener David Warner to provide India with a brilliant start on the first day. Legendary India batsman Sachin Tendulkar is also in awe of Siraj after the speedster's bowling antics at Gabba. Tendulkar explained how Siraj was able to bowl outswingers and cutters on the wicket.
"When Mohammed Siraj was bowling, I had a couple of guys say that the ball hit the crack and it nipped back something which I observed was completely different.
Mohammed Siraj, when he was bowling outswingers, (reflecting on the shiny surface of the ball) this is the shiny side and what he would do is he would get his fingers behind the ball and release it," Tendulkar heaped praise on Siraj in a video shared on the former's Twitter handle.
"So the seam is pointing towards first slip, or sometimes second slip, and when he wanted to bowl in cutter which moves off the seam, instead of going behind the ball he went off the pitch," he added.
"So I don't think it happened off the crack. It was Siraj's talent. His ability to bowl those in-cutters," Tendulkar further said.
Australia lost their last five wickets for 58 runs on the second day of the Test. T Natarajan, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar took three wickets each as the hosts were bowled out for 369 in their first innings before lunch.
In response, India lost both openers, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma, before rain halted the play. The visitors ended at 62/2, with skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle.
