Sri Lanka is destroyed by Mohammed Siraj’s 6/21
Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan, two youthful Indian openers, finished the chase in 6.1 overs for a 10-wicket victory and the Asia Cup victory.
Mohammed Siraj, the tournament’s chief wrecker, said to the official broadcasters during the innings break that everything felt “like a dream” after India defeated Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final for barely 50 runs. For Sri Lanka’s batsmen and spectators, his six-wicket burst for 21 runs—including four in an over where Sri Lanka effectively lost the Asia Cup—felt like a nightmare since even the typically boisterous papare steel band became silent.
Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan, two youthful Indian openers, finished the chase in 6.1 overs for a 10-wicket victory and the Asia Cup victory.
The cricket career of Siraj has a hazy arc running through it. The story of his struggles to rise through the ranks, his determination to seize every opportunity that presented itself, his determination to establish himself as an indispensable player in all formats for his country, and his incredible mental fortitude to produce a series-defining performance in Melbourne just days after his father’s passing is one that Tollywood would savor. He is the son of an auto-rickshaw driver from a busy neighborhood in old Hyderabad.
In the last four years, Siraj’s ascent has been spectacular to the point where, in limited-over forms, he has replaced Mohammed Shami as Jasprit Bumrah’s new-ball partner.
Siraj’s statistics are astounding throughout all formats, but especially in the 50-over version, where he has taken 53 wickets at an average of 19.11 in just 29 games. For context, Bumrah averages 24.09 per day. No bowler has taken more wickets for full-member teams than Siraj’s 29 through the first half of 2023. Not even fast bowlers from Pakistan and Australia can match his average of 12.86 in 13 ODIs this year.
He might combine with Bumrah to form one of the World Cup’s most potent bowling combinations. Siraj would refer to it as destiny in his customary humble manner. But you need more than fate on your side to perform in crucial games in such a devastating way. You also need to have passion and craft. Both are in Siraj.
Once more, he mentioned destiny in Colombo. No matter how hard you strive, you can only achieve what is predetermined for you. The strategy was to execute my line and length simply, Siraj added, donating his man-of-the-match award money to the groundsmen who put in extra hours amid the tournament’s rain delays.
But obtaining those six wickets required more than simply showing up and hitting the proper locations.
After the game was delayed due to weather, his first over of the day might rank among the worst overs ever. He consistently struck Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka’s pillar and the man in form, on the outside edge. The entire arena exhaled in relief when Siraj finished that again. Sri Lanka believed that the storm had passed. In an over that would go down in Indian cricket history, it only got worse.
The standard ball, a wobble-sealing nip-backer that seams in like a deadly Mamba, may have been what Sri Lanka’s batters had in mind when they arrived. Instead, he made the decision to unzip his away-goers—those that he had used sparingly throughout the tour of Australia when he first appeared on the scene in 2021—while occasionally flashing a wry smirk. As he displayed on Sunday, he is such a rhythmic bowler that he could wreak havoc in a single period, where one wicket may progress to two and more.
When Ravindra Jadeja bowled the first ball of his second over, Pathum Nissanka’s hesitant drive at point was caught. Sadeera Samarawickrama played all the way around the third delivery before being caught leg before wicket the next ball because Siraj had just produced eight outswingers in a row and he had caused him to forget about the deadly inswinger.
Charith Asalanka, Sri Lanka’s hero in their most recent game against Pakistan, played a loose-drive straight up off the following ball as Ishan Kishan safely pouched it at covers (SL 8/4). Dhananjaya de Silva prevented the hat-trick, but Siraj caught him with the final ball. The graceful batsman was unable to help but hang his bat outside the off-stump and managed to nick the ball into wicketkeeper K L Rahul’s clutches. He had the stamina in between to run after a ball all the way to the long-on fence. That, in a nutshell, represented Siraj’s tenacity and compassion.
The assault persisted. In Siraj’s third over, Dasun Shanaka managed to withstand three more outswingers before surrendering the off-stump to another one that angled in and slid away. Siraj’s out-swingers become harder and harder to play with each ball.
Siraj’s out-swingers have matured remarkably nicely. It’s difficult for a seamer who naturally bowls the incoming balls to get the ball to form away. However, Siraj was able to succeed by changing his release points with a single action. He is delivering the out-swingers from a little further away than usual for someone whose bowling arm used to be closer to the head at the time of release. As a result, he is able to angle the ball in before it curves away from the right-handed players with its seam pointing to the third man.
Siraj would undoubtedly refer to it as fate, but he is now in control of his own destiny rather than being guided by another.
