NAPIER: India pacer Mohammed Siraj revealed that his incredible four-wicket haul against New Zealand in the third T20I was the result of a strategy that involved bowling as many hard-length deliveries as possible in an effort to spook the opposition batting order.
Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, and Mitchell Santner were all bowled by Siraj in a career-best stint of 4/17 in four overs while bowling in the middle and closing overs on a favourable McLean Park surface.
"It was difficult to bowl hard distances in Napier. My strategy was to bowl as many long, hard deliveries as I could. I'm in a very good mood. Being successful as a fast bowler gives you good confidence, "Siraj was speaking to Arshdeep Singh in a video interview that was uploaded to BCCI.TV.
Siraj, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2022, had an underwhelming season because he was notorious for leaking runs in the game's shortest format. But he was at his most impressive at the New Zealand match in Napier.
He continued by saying that since his time with the national team during the Men's T20 World Cup in Australia, he had been practising throwing hard-length balls. "I've been doing a good job of prepping. I was a standby player (in Australia) even during the (T20) World Cup, and I was organising and getting ready to bowl hard-length deliveries."
Siraj, 28, who has experience playing T20 games, said his strategy is to simply avoid giving up too many runs. "In T20, whether I get a wicket or not, my goal is to not allow runs to be scored and to avoid bowling too many boundary balls. That is my strategy. I don't make many efforts." He concluded by saying that whenever he gets to play for India, it is a happy moment for him. "When I perform and represent India, it brings me a different kind of joy. This is how I naturally bowl, and experience also helps.
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