IND vs SL 2022-23, 3rd ODI: 'Started focussing on white-ball cricket after a poor IPL' - Mohammed Siraj

Indian speedster Mohammed Siraj has communicated his dismay at not being able to deliver in the previous edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), pushing him to focus more on white-ball cricket, which is paying moneyed rewards now. The 28-year-old pacer returned with impressive figures of 4/32 from his ten overs to bundle out Sri Lanka for 73 in 22 overs. India won the contest by a monstrous 317 runs at the Greenfield International Stadium on Sunday. Siraj, maintained by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ahead of IPL 2022, seized only nine wickets in 15 games with an economy of over ten runs per over.

Siraj said the changeover occurred because he began concentrating on implementing line and length in white-ball cricket following the 2022 IPL bummer. "When the IPL season went bad for me, I started focussing on white-ball cricket. I worked on it and grew in confidence. I stopped worrying about how my performance would go, which was not the case earlier. I started focussing only on execution of line and length," he sounded.

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Siraj also conveyed that the beauty of bowling with a wobbled seam lies in its unpredictability. So much so that he even doesn't know how much the ball will do after pitching. Siraj has been reaping the blessings of bowling with a wobbled seam since he uncovered the art in 2018.

Siraj picked up nine wickets in the One-Day International (ODI) series versus Sri Lanka, furnishing India with the much-needed wickets with the new ball. "With wobbled seam, how much the ball will do neither I know nor the batter. Sometimes it goes straight after pitching. Other times, it can come in sharply. Most of my wickets come through the wobbled seam. It is effective for me, and I trust it to work for me," voiced Siraj after the third ODI.

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The masterful speedster declared that he used the wobbled seam after his natural in-swinger renounced him. "In-swing was my natural earlier, but then, it stopped. So, I also developed an out-swing. When I did not have the in-swing, I developed the wobbled seam. It took a lot of time to get effective and give me confidence. The more I bowled in the nets, the better I got. In the IPL, I also spoke to Dale Steyn for out-swing, which helped me a lot," Siraj added.

Chatting about the Lanka series, he articulated that his objective was uncomplicated. "The plan was to take early wickets and pressure the opposition," he revealed. Siraj is now glancing along to play at his home ground on Wednesday when India takes on New Zealand in the opening ODI. "It would be nice to play at the home ground with my family, coaches and friends watching me," he concluded.

(With inputs from PTI)