Mohd Siraj’s ‘Home Truth’: Pressure on pacer after only 19 wickets from 13 Tests in India

New Delhi, Oct 21 (PTI) Indian skipper Rohit Sharma believes in consistency when it comes to team selection but he will have to take a leap of faith to retain speedster Mohammed Siraj in the playing eleven for the second Test against New Zealand considering his poor run in home conditions.

The match starts in Pune from October 24 and inclusion of spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar as the fifth slow bowler is an indication that coach Gautam Gambhir and Rohit might go for the jugular on a spin-friendly track.

The 30-year-old Hyderabadi has so far taken 80 wickets in 30 Test matches but 61 of those scalps have come in 17 away Test matches in three of the SENA countries (South Africa, England, Australia).

Only 19 wickets after bowling 192.2 overs in 13 home Tests are figures that imply that Siraj has struggled in sub-continental conditions unlike Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who have had the ability to throw pitch and conditions out of equation.

To be fair to Siraj, in those 13 Tests, he went wicket-less in four with a couple of them against Australia last year played on rank turners in Indore and Delhi where he got to bowl only 10 and six overs respectively.

But what has been disappointing is that the last seven home Tests have yielded only 12 wickets for him which is less than two per match.

Also, he hasn’t been consistent enough to get initial breakthroughs leaving Bumrah with all the heavy-lifting to do with the new ball.

PTI spoke to a coach, who has worked extensively with some of the current national team bowlers, and he thinks that Siraj’s length is erroneous for Indian conditions. He explained the technical flaw that has cropped up in his bowling.

“If you see Siraj’s record, he has five-wicket hauls in Australia and South Africa where there is more bounce. The six to eight metre length away from the batter is considered to be ideal Test match length. But it varies from country to country depending on the bounce,” the coach, who was a top domestic performer during his time, told PTI on condition of anonymity.

“The ideal length in Australia is eight metres, it is around six metres in England and on low bounce Indian wickets, it is 6.5 metres. If you pitch it around 6.5 metres and get movement, you are in business for both outside edge, bowled and leg before.

“Siraj is bowling around eight metre length and in India with that length, you can’t hit top of off (stump). He isn’t pitching it up enough,” he further explained.

However, the coach is confident that once Siraj goes Down Under, for the five-match series starting November 22, he will again find his mojo as the length. which he is hitting here, will work like magic in those conditions.

“When you are hitting eight metre length on Indian tracks which are devoid of pace, the batter has more time to gauge the line and it becomes hittable.

“I am not sure how effective he will be in Pune or Mumbai although latter was the only venue where he looked menacing against New Zealand in 2021. Problem is when you play white ball, this back of length in Indian conditions can still fetch you wickets,” he reasoned.