Hallmark of a standout player and a great team is their ability to change — and execute — plans midway through a game. A combination of Ben Duckett’s onslaught on the second evening and R. Ashwin’s withdrawal due to family emergency meant India had no option but to switch into Plan B to keep England at bay.
Mohammed Siraj, the pacer who returned his best figures at home, said, revealed a quick meeting ahead of the start of the day’s play — with long spells being the mantra — made the job easier for the bowling unit. “In the morning when we got to know that Ash bhai is not there, more responsibility fell on us. Rohit bhai told us that we will need to bowl long spells and I love bowling long spells,” Siraj said after the third day’s play.
“For a fast bowler in Test match cricket, one cannot set up a batsman in three-four overs. And we got success due to long spells. We stopped runs and got wickets.”
Long spells indeed turned out to be a blessing in disguise. After the second day’s play, Ashwin had stressed how Ben Duckett’s onslaught had not perturbed India’s bowling unit. While Siraj reiterated the fact that “they were hitting good balls for fours,” the third morning saw aggressive fields making way for defensive fields.
Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah regained the control at the start, with Kuldeep bowling a 12-over spell to pick two key wickets.
“Since we were one bowler short, the remaining four bowlers had to bowl long spells. Ash bhai (Ashwin) was our fifth bowler and I only wish that his mother gets well soon,” Siraj said.
“If you bowl long spells you should not try much but be consistent with it (line and lengths). They are not used to defending all six balls (in an over), if they have defended on two, they are going to attack the third.”
