“Mohammed Siraj should never forget what his strengths are” – Ashish Nehra

Ashish Nehra has advised Mohammed Siraj not to forget his strengths as he proceeds with his international career.

Siraj gave a decent account of himself in the just-concluded Test series against England. The Hyderabad-born pacer snared 14 wickets at an average of 30.71 in the four Tests against the hosts.

While reviewing the India-England Test series on Sony Sports, Ashish Nehra opined that Mohammed Siraj should rely more on his outswing deliveries. He elaborated:

“Mohammed Siraj should never forget what his strengths are. We saw a lot of scrambled seam and a lot of wickets on inswing but the outswing, which was his strength, we saw that less and the England tour has passed, where there was a chance to bowl outswing. The expectation is that he will learn from this.”

Siraj, who came into the Indian team as an excellent exponent of outswing, has mainly resorted to incoming deliveries lately. Virat Kohli has tended to pack the leg-side field whenever the 27-year-old comes to bowl, with the latter targeting the stumps.

“Mohammed Siraj has bowled amazingly well in whatever chances he has got” – Ashish Nehra

However, Ashish Nehra lauded Mohammed Siraj for putting in his utmost effort at all times. He observed:

“There is no doubt that Mohammed Siraj has bowled amazingly well in whatever chances he has got, especially in the Lord’s Test. He will get better with experience but whether you talk about fitness, ability to bowl long spells or pace, he has all the ingredients. Since the time he has started, if you see from Brisbane till now, he has given more than 100% in all matches.”

The former left-arm pacer signed off by stating that Mohammed Siraj will play a significant role, particularly in the Test format, going forward. Nehra said:

“The options you have in pace bowling – Ishant Sharma, Shami, Bumrah. Now the experienced Umesh Yadav has also done well after being an opportunity after a long time. A big addition to that is Mohammed Siraj, who will play an important role in Indian cricket, especially in Tests, going forward.”

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Mohammed Siraj has certainly presented himself as an excellent seam-bowling option for Team India. He could be an able ally for Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, the two spearheads of Indian pace bowling.