“Ravi and I spent a lot of time with Siraj…”: Arun recalls how team backed inexperienced pacer during historic BGT 2020-21

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 21 (ANI): Ahead of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at Perth, former Indian bowling coach, who was the part of the coaching staff during the inspirational 2020-21 series win, recalled how he and former head coach Ravi Shastri talked with an inexperienced Mohammed Siraj, who was given a task to spearhead a young bowling attack in absence of frontline bowlers.

Arun was speaking to Revsportz. India secured an inspirational 2-1 series win against Aussies Down Under in 2020-21, in the absence of star batter Virat Kohli, after being dismissed for 36 all out in the first Test at Adelaide and experiencing several injuries to their key players.

Siraj made his Test debut during the second Test at Melbourne and immediately made an impact with five wickets in the match. By the time the final Test at The Gabba came, all key bowlers like Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja were ruled out of due to injuries. With the team dugout turned into a hospital bench, the stars had to watch a two Test young Siraj take over the pace attack consisting of a debutant T Natrajan, a one-Test-old Navdeep Saini and an inexperienced Shardul Thakur.

However, India braved all the odds, chasing 328 runs on the final day thanks to brilliant fifties from Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara to take home the series and hand Aussies their first loss at Gabba in Tests after over 32 years.

Speaking to Revsportz, Arun recalled that Ravi and he spent a lot of time with Siraj and backed him to do what he had been doing for Hyderabad in his Ranji Trophy games.

“Ravi and I spent a lot of time with Siraj. Each time I sat down with him, I mentioned to him that he should think what he did at the Ranji Trophy games. He has been very successful in domestic cricket and there has to be a reason behind it. He needed to do the same at Test level in Australia. I told him he would be fine after the initial nerves had settled, and all he needed to do was bowl the same way he did at the Ranji Trophy. Back his strengths. Forget the stage and who he was bowling to. Just back his strengths and follow the process that got him there and made him successful,” he said.

The team management in Siraj paid off as he ended with 13 wickets in three matches, the team’s leading wicket-taker, with a five wicket haul at The Gabba.

Now, Siraj, who has grown leaps and bounds as an all-format pacer, is making his second tour to Australia. Having done well in overseas conditions of England and South Africa before, all eyes will be on Siraj to complement Bumrah.

After the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10.

Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18. The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series’ penultimate stage.

The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.

India’s squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.

Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.