Since Virat Kohli no longer plays Tests, Mohammed Siraj is easily the most expressive Indian cricketer. A montage of his face at different phases of this topsy-turvy day captured the varied emotions that the Indian team went through at Edgbaston. At the start of the day Siraj took two big wickets off successive balls and towards the end he dismissed three tailenders in five balls. But there was a long period of frustration in between.
During his joyous wicket-taking spree, Siraj was running on the central square – doing a Ronaldo one minute, raising both his hands and blowing kisses the next. And during that wicket-less period when Harry Brook (158) and Jamie Smith (184 not out) put up a 303-run stand; he was all grimaces, cursing luck and holding his head with both hands.
Overall, it turned out to be a bizarre day that resulted in a ridiculous-looking scoreboard. In England’s total of 407, there were two scores of 150 plus and six ducks. Two wickets fell in the day’s first 10 balls, and after 61 overs of batting domination five wickets in the space of 7 overs.
Siraj’s early morning burst and his deadly finish saw him finish with 6/70. India took a lead of 180 and by the end of the day had scored 64/1 to go ahead by 244 runs. England’s ‘we don’t play for a draw’ claim will be tested for the next two days.
The man responsible for putting England in a spot was the ad hoc head of the pace department in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. Maybe, Siraj needed the burden of responsibility to come out of Bumrah’s shadow. He first took the two big scalps – Joe Root and Ben Stokes – in the morning. And later, with the second new ball, returned to wipe out the tail. That’s what pace spearheads are supposed to do and Siraj was ticking all the boxes.
Well aware of the pattern of play in this series, Siraj showed an urgency to take wickets at the start of play. Since even a semi-new ball becomes soft and refuses to swing or seam, he knew he had to strike early. His first breakthrough of the day was a lucky break – Joe Root edging a ball down the leg-side to the wicket-keeper.
But next up he came up with a scorcher that jumped up from good length at Ben Stokes. Maybe, expecting a length ball outside his off-stump, the English captain, standing slightly outside the crease, was almost committed to go on the front foot. He would get out embarrassingly fending the ball with the edge flying to Pant behind the stumps. Siraj had given India a whiff and in the stands there were discussions about a possible follow on and promise of 1-1 getting discussed. But this was not an ordinary game, fortunes have changed with the shine on the ball.
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Though, Siraj at Edgbaston is very different from the one who bowled at Headingley. In the first Test, the pacer tried to bang the ball short, beat the batsmen with his bounce. Here he was bowling from about a foot wide on the crease and sticking to three-quarter length. This was how he had got Zak Crawley out on Thursday and that’s how he had continued today.
But for the period in the afternoon when Smith and Brook forced the bowlers to change their length, and compelled the captain to switch plans with the ball doing nothing much, the pacer from Hyderabad was a handful.
But once he got the new ball, Siraj was a different beast and too good for the tailenders. He was again bowling the three-quarter length ball and getting the ball to seam in sharply. He would hit Byrdon Carse on the pads as he plonked his left leg to defend the ball. Siraj was convinced, he had his scalp but the umpire didn’t oblige. Siraj was livid, he did everything to show his displeasure, giving the umpire a long stare from the length of the pitch being one.
Skipper Shubman was not on field so Pant asked for a review. Siraj was right, the ball had missed the bat and was heading for the stumps. Shubman came running into the field and hugged Siraj. The pacer still had the expression of someone wronged, the long wicket-less afternoon and the frustration of those many near misses was there in his mind.
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Back in rhythm and the wicket in his bag, Siraj got Tongue with a similar ball – the perfect length that makes lesser batsmen confused. Unable to decide whether to come forward or to stay back, Tongue too was out lbw. This was Siraj’s fifth wicket, he was unplayable now.
He was now flying on his run-up, bending his back. He came up with a wicked bouncer that hit England’s No.11 Shoaib Basheer on the side of the helmet. Almost instantly, the intensity on his face disappeared, concern took over his face as he checked on the young English spinner.
Trust Rishabh Pant to diffuse any tense situation. It was at this point, Pant’s quip got caught by the stump mic: “Pehle maarta hai phir yeh bolta hai ..”. Siraj burst out laughing, Basheer too had a smile on his face. The very next ball Siraj would hit the top of Basheer’s off-stump with a peach of a nip-backer.
Again Siraj was raising his hands, blowing kisses. It was roughly the same spot where he had spent most of the exasperating afternoon standing with his head in his hands. It was that kind of day for Siraj and India. In stands again, they were talking about 1-1.
