Now Mohammed Siraj himself has explained the reason behind his brilliant bowling in the decisive match against Sri Lanka. Siraj has said that he practiced the art of bringing the ball in the air and then going out after falling on the pitch for hours during the West Indies tour, which benefited him. Due to the deadly spell of Mohammad Siraj, the entire Sri Lankan team was out on the score of just 50 runs in the 50 over match.
Siraj also made a record of taking four wickets in one over. He is the first and fourth bowler in the world to achieve this feat in one day cricket. He also equaled the record of former Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas of taking the fastest five wickets in an innings in ODI cricket.
Mohammed Siraj took the wickets of Pathum Nissanka, Sadira Samaraiwickrama, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjay de Silva in his second over. After this he also sent Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka back to the pavilion. After the match, Kuldeep Yadav questioned Siraj's charismatic bowling and especially the ball that dismissed Dasun Shanaka. BCCI has shared this video on its social media.
In the video, Kuldeep Yadav asked, The ball by Dasun Shanaka was very brilliant. Did you setup anything for it in advance because he was beaten four times. How did you plan for him
In response, Siraj said, In West Indies, I kept practicing a lot of outswing from wide of the crease. Because my outswing was going very well, so I tried to push for inswing from wide of the crease. And come out swinging from there. But exactly what I thought happened. This was my best wicket so far.
Siraj described his spell in the Asia Cup final as magical and said that he had never thought of doing this. He also said that this spell of Asia Cup final will give him a lot of confidence in the World Cup which is going to start from next month.
With the help of Siraj's spell, the Sri Lankan team was reduced to 50 runs in 15 overs. Hardik Pandya also took three wickets for three runs and one wicket went to Jasprit Bumrah. In reply, the Indian team achieved this target in just 6 overs without losing any wicket. Siraj said on this, "This is a big achievement for me. Performing like this in such a big match will give me a lot of confidence for the World Cup.
Siraj, the hero of the Indian team in the Asia Cup final, said, To be honest, today's spell was like magic, because even I had never thought like this. It was a final match. Siraj also mentioned one regret left in the ODI match held in Kerala Trivandrum.
He said, The last time we played against Sri Lanka in Trivandrum, I took four wickets in four overs but did not get five wickets there. Today that edge has finally been found. Siraj said that when he started his spell in the final match, he only thought that he was getting enough swing and hence there was no need to hit the wicket. Siraj said, "I had only one plan to keep bowling at one place.
In the match held on Sunday, Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat. The match started 40 minutes late due to rain. Sri Lankan batsmen had to face such a storm in the form of Siraj that the entire team was out for 15. Could last only 2 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah sent Kusal Perera to the pavilion on the third ball of the first over. Then Siraj took wickets on the first, third, fourth and sixth balls in the fourth over. Pathum Nissanka, Sadira Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjay de Silva became their victims. Nissanka caught Ravindra Jadeja at point.
Samarawickrama was run out, while Asalanka caught Ishan Kishan. De Silva did not allow Siraj to take a hat-trick but he got caught by KL Rahul behind the B wicket. Siraj also took the wickets of Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka and Kusal Mendis.
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