Practised a lot to generate outswingers from wide of the crease: Mohammed Siraj

Colombo, September 18

Hours of net sessions perfecting the art of getting the ball to dart in the air and then deviate away after pitching paid dividends while bamboozling Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka, India’s man of the moment Mohammed Siraj, said after his magical spell of 6/21 in the Asia Cup final.

Siraj dismissed Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samaraiwickrama, Charith Asalanka and Dhananjaya De Silva in his second over before returning to clean up Lankan skipper Dasun Shanka with a peach of a delivery.

“I had practised a lot on generating out-swing deliveries from wide of the crease in West Indies. My outswingers were going well. So I tried from the wide of the crease to push for inswing (which will move away after pitching),” Siraj told bcci.tv.

“So what I planned, what I had in mind, it turned out to be absolutely perfect and it was my best wicket of the game,” Siraj said in an interaction with Indian teammate Kuldeep Yadav.

With less than a month to go for the World Cup, Siraj said his spell in the Asia Cup Final would give him a lot of confidence heading into the mega event.

Siraj spell shot out the Lankans for a mere 50 in 15.2 overs, aided by fellow pacers Hardik Pandya (3 for 3) and Jasprit Bumrah (1 for 23), while the Indians got the job done with 10 wickets in hand in 6.1 overs.

“It’s a great achievement for me, especially since it’s the final. It will help me gain a lot of confidence before the (ODI) World Cup,” he said.

“To be honest, it was a magical spell, as I had never dreamt about it. I had to struggle hard to gain the fifth wicket in the last ODI against Lanka in Trivandrum, which never came. But, it all worked out today (Sunday).

“In my first spell, the moment I saw I was able to swing the ball, I realised that I didn’t need to hit the wicket. I just intended on bowling at a particular spot and make the ball talk.”