Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj is under tremendous pressure to perform considering his poor form in home conditions. FIle
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma believes in consistency when it comes to team selection but he will have to take a leap of faith to retain speedster Mohammed Siraj in the playing eleven for the second Test against New Zealand considering his poor run in home conditions.

The match starts in Pune from October 24 and inclusion of spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar as the fifth slow bowler is an indication that coach Gautam Gambhir and Rohit might go for the jugular on a spin-friendly track.

The 30-year-old Hyderabadi has so far taken 80 wickets in 30 Test matches but 61 of those scalps have come in 17 away Test matches in three of the SENA countries (South Africa, England, Australia).

Only 19 wickets after bowling 192.2 overs in 13 home Tests are figures that imply that Siraj has struggled in sub-continental conditions unlike Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who have had the ability to throw pitch and conditions out of equation.

To be fair to Siraj, in those 13 Tests, he went wicket-less in four with a couple of them against Australia last year played on rank turners in Indore and Delhi where he got to bowl only 10 and six overs respectively.

But what has been disappointing is that the last seven home Tests have yielded only 12 wickets for him which is less than two per match.

Also, he hasn’t been consistent enough to get initial breakthroughs leaving Bumrah with all the heavy-lifting to do with the new ball.

PTI spoke to a coach, who has worked extensively with some of the current national team bowlers, and he thinks that Siraj’s length is erroneous for Indian conditions. He explained the technical flaw that has cropped up in his bowling.

“If you see Siraj’s record, he has five-wicket hauls in Australia and South Africa where there is more bounce. The six to eight metre length away from the batter is considered to be ideal Test match length. But it varies from country to country depending on the bounce,” the coach, who was a top domestic performer during his time, told PTI on condition of anonymity.

“The ideal length in Australia is eight metres, it is around six metres in England and on low bounce Indian wickets, it is 6.5 metres. If you pitch it around 6.5 metres and get movement, you are in business for both outside edge, bowled and leg before.

“Siraj is bowling around eight metre length and in India with that length, you can’t hit top of off (stump). He isn’t pitching it up enough,” he further explained.

However, the coach is confident that once Siraj goes Down Under, for the five-match series starting November 22, he will again find his mojo as the length. which he is hitting here, will work like magic in those conditions.

“When you are hitting eight metre length on Indian tracks which are devoid of pace, the batter has more time to gauge the line and it becomes hittable.

“I am not sure how effective he will be in Pune or Mumbai although latter was the only venue where he looked menacing against New Zealand in 2021. Problem is when you play white ball, this back of length in Indian conditions can still fetch you wickets,” he reasoned.

India loosened their grip somewhat but continued to lead the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, despite suffering an eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the three-match series opener in Dubai on Sunday (October 20, 2024). Photo: Wikipedia

India loosened their grip somewhat but continued to lead the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, despite suffering an eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the three-match series opener in Dubai on Sunday (October 20, 2024).

India’s percentage dropped to 68.06% after the humbling experience in Bengaluru, and they will now look to get their act together before the upcoming two Tests and the ensuing five-match series in Australia at the end of the year.

The Black Caps chased down their victory target of 107 with relative ease, with the win catapulting the side from sixth up to fourth on the updated standings with a win-loss percentage of 44.44%.

Reigning champions Australia and Sri Lanka are currently India’s closest challengers on the standings, with Pat Cummins’ side in second place on 62.50% and the island nation narrowly behind with 55.56% following their recent series sweep over New Zealand.

But New Zealand’s triumph over India has the Kiwis back in the running for a second appearance in the World Test Championship final, as they overtake England and South Africa to re-claim fourth position.

New Zealand host England for three Tests in November and December and may still be in contention for a top two finish on the standings with a pair of positive results from the remaining matches against India.

After bowling India out for a historic low of 46 on the first morning of the match, New Zealand piled up a massive 402 thanks largely to a Rachin Ravindra century (134) and a Tim Southee cameo (65) lower down the order.

India responded strongly in their second essay with Sarfaraz Khan (150) and Rishabh Pant (99) masterminding an excellent comeback, before the second new ball turned the match in New Zealand’s favour.

Captain Rohit Sharma is seen during a practice session on the eve of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru on October 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

India Test captain Rohit Sharma threw his weight behind the four travelling reserves — Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna.

The four cricketers could be taken to the five-Test series in Australia next month, Rohit said.

“The reason we wanted to keep them close to us was because we are thinking of taking them to Australia. We want to monitor them and see their workload. A lot of these guys have had injuries in the past, so it is important that we try and build them up. We want to create a group of fast bowlers where we have eight or nine options, not three or four options,” Rohit said at a press conference here on the eve of the first India-New Zealand Test.

Prasidh, however, bowled only eight overs for Karnataka in its Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh at Indore a few days ago.

Not rushing Shami

Rohit explained that it would be wrong to rush an injured Mohammed Shami into action. If he is not fully fit and ready for the rigours of red-ball cricket, Shami will not travel to Australia, Rohit said.

“It is very difficult for us to make a call on him (Shami). He recently had a setback. He had a swelling in his knee, which was quite unusual. Just when he was getting close to 100 per cent fitness, he had this swelling. That has put him back a little bit in his recovery,” Rohit said.

“He is working with the physios and doctors at NCA. We want him to be 100 percent fit. We don’t want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia. That will not be the right decision. He has not played cricket for a year. It is quite tough for a fast bowler (to return to action), having missed so much cricket.

“We want to give him enough time to recover. He is supposed to play a couple of games before he plays international cricket. We will see where he is at after this New Zealand series, and then take a call at what stage of the Australia tour he will be fit.”