Turning point: Once Siraj castled a well-set Babar, the Pakistan innings disintegrated.
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR

Mohammed Siraj leaked runs early before coming back with a stellar run that put the initial brakes on Pakistan in the World Cup match at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Saturday.

He got the first breakthrough (Abdullah Shafique) and then returned to castle a well-set Babar Azam.

From that moment, the game tilted towards India and understandably while striding into the media conference hall, Siraj (two for 50) was all smiles.

A reference was made to his expensive spells in the previous game against Afghanistan and quickly he said: “Just because you had an off-day doesn’t mean that you are a bad bowler. I have faith in myself and I am happy with the way I bowled here. I am not a bad bowler,” Siraj said.

Probed about the special delivery that accounted for Babar, Siraj said: “At that point Pakistan was playing well and they had a good partnership. It is just that he (Babar) played back and it wasn’t as if the ball kept low, it had decent bounce but it skidded a bit and got him out.”

Stating that playing a World Cup is a dream-come-true, Siraj said that the team is charged up and primed to perform. “We are backing each other. I never dreamt that I would play a World Cup considering the level I came from but here I am and am enjoying it,” he said.

Asked about skipper Rohit Sharma’s batting, Siraj said: “We all know about Rohit, he is a legend.”

And about the hype around the match involving Pakistan, Siraj downplayed it: “We are taking it one game at a time. Just because it is against Pakistan we need not get worked up. This is a World Cup and we will play different teams and we need to adapt and perform.”