AUS vs IND: Mohammed Siraj credits Bharat Arun, Morne Morkel for form-revival

India pacer Mohammed Siraj is back among the wickets once again.

The pacer provided the perfect support act for Jasprit Bumrah in the Perth Test match, which helped India win their first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by 295 runs. Apart from Bumrah, Siraj was impressive with his nagging lengths and his ability to target the stumps.

The India pacer credited Bharat Arun and Morne Morkel for his form revival and revealed the chats that he had with them before India’s tour of Australia. Things were not this rosy for Siraj this year in the red ball format. The pacer was rested for a game after a terrible showing in the 1st Test vs England in January 2024. In the Test series against New Zealand, Siraj was once again benched in Pune and picked only 2 wickets in 2 matches.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo after India’s pink ball warm-up game against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI, Siraj said that he was not enjoying bowling in Test matches anymore. The pacer opened up on his form slump and said that since most of the overs were bowled by spinners in India, he was getting frustrated for not picking up wickets.

“I could feel that I was not enjoying my bowling, As a person, I am someone who gets a different feeling when I am enjoying my bowling, even if I am not getting wickets. And now when I was not getting wickets, I went a bit deep into why I was not getting them. In India you know that spinners bowl most of the overs, so there it is a little tough to get wickets in the five overs [you get as a fast bowler]. So I just became a bit upset about why I was not getting wickets. But now I am having a lot of fun,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.

ROLE OF BHARAT ARUN
Siraj revealed that he spoke to Bharat Arun, India’s former bowling coach who played a crucial part in building India’s star-studded pace battery over the years. Siraj said that the only advice the current KKR bowling coach gave was for him to enjoy his bowling.

“I spoke with Bharat Arun sir, that this is what’s happening with me. Because he has known me for a while and he has seen my bowling from a long time back. So he just told me to enjoy and not run after wickets. Just enjoy and you will get wickets. And before travelling, I met [fielding coach] Dilip sir in Hyderabad and we practiced together as well. So it felt good and now I am enjoying,” he said.

He further added that his relationship with India bowling coach Morne Morkel also helped him regain confidence.

“Morne (Morkel) keeps telling me that ‘you are a warrior’. ‘You’ll get us wickets, but you just keep enjoying your bowling’,” said Siraj about Morkel.

In Australia, Siraj has 18 wickets in four matches at an average of 25.27.