SA vs IND: ‘Hit the right areas, wickets will come,’ says Siraj after six-wicket haul
The HinduSouth Africa’s batting consultant Ashwell Prince may be disappointed with the way his team performed and he may have been surprised by the quickness of the wicket, but he believes Mohammed Siraj deserves a lot of credit. “Siraj bowled one of the spells of his life,” said Prince after the opening day of the second Test witnessed 23 wickets fall. “If you combine that with two good bowlers with the new ball in their hands in favourable conditions, that is what you get.” When asked about the pitch, he said, “Having played a lot of cricket on this ground, and having also been a coach here, I have never seen the pitch being that quick on day one. If two line-ups can’t bat on a surface, that says a lot.” Siraj, who made an excellent use of that surface, said he wanted to do what he could not in the Centurion Test. “The wicket looks quite similar to Centurion.” He said he and Jasprit Bumrah bowled in partnerships and bowled many maidens unlike last Test match.