Wanted Mohammed Siraj to bowl 10 overs, but trainer stopped him: Rohit Sharma hails Asia Cup Final hero

India captain Rohit Sharma has revealed that Mohammed Siraj was not able to bowl his full quota of 10 overs after India’s trainer intervened.

Siraj bowled seven straight overs in India’s hammering of Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup Final. Siraj was deadly from the start, picking up four wickets in his second over and leaving the co-hosts reeling in the final of the continental clash.

Speaking at the post match press conference, India captain hailed Mohammed Siraj as India’s new hero and said that the pacer was desperate to bowl more but the Indian trainer did not want him to take an unnecessary load ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023.

“He bowled 7 overs in that spell. 7 overs is a lot. I wanted him to bowl but I got a message from our trainer that we need to stop him. He was quite desperate to bowl but that’s the nature of any bowler or batter. When they see the opportunity, they want to pounce on it. But that’s where my job comes in and I wanted to make sure everything stays calm and don’t overexaggerate,” Rohit Sharma told the press after the match.

Siraj had ran riot against Sri Lanka earlier in January 2023. Playing the final ODI match of the series, Siraj wiped out the Sri Lanka batting order and bowled several overs on a trot.

“That’s the call. I remember, he was in a similar situation against Sri Lanka in Trivandrum. He had taken 4 wickets and he had bowled some 8-9 overs on the trot, I think,” Sharma further added.

The captain credited the pacer for his effort and said that Siraj found more swing than the others during the game. Sharma further added that India have found different heroes to step up during the game and it was Siraj’s day in the Asia Cup Final.

“I was surprised with the pitch. I can’t talk about how they batted and all that. I can only talk about how we bowled. Siraj obviously got the ball to move a bit more than the other guys. We will find different heroes stand up and well all complement him. It was Siraj’s day,” Rohit concluded.