NEW DELHI: India paceman Mohammed Siraj gave full credit to wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul for his three-wicket haul in the second ODI against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
Sri Lanka were bundled out for 215 in just 39.4 overs with Siraj (3/30) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/51) claiming three wickets each as the visitors faltered on a batting track.
Siraj, who played a crucial role in the opening ODI at Guwahati taking two wickets as Sri Lanka lost the opener by 67 runs, said it was Rahul who read the conditions perfectly and told him that it had stopped swinging after only the first over.
"KL (Rahul) told me it stopped swinging after one over, so I switched over to hard lengths. It is a good batting wicket but Kuldeep bowled very well to cause a middle-order collapse," said Siraj during the innings break.
"The ball wasn't coming out quick enough, and there wasn't enough swing. So the plan was to bowl stump to stump to keep the pressure from one end, hoping to get wickets and help the other bowlers," added Siraj, who returned figures of 3/30 in 5.4 overs.
