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Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was very impressed with Mohammed Siraj's efforts in the second ODI against South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday (October 9).
The seamer had figures of 3/38 from his quota of 10 overs in the match and he bowled exceptionally well in the death overs to restrict South Africa's progress.
His three wickets included the prized scalps of Quinton de Kock, well-set Reeza Hendricks, and the Proteas captain Keshav Maharaj.
The speedster gave away only 15 runs in his last three overs, which meant that South Africa could only score 278/7 in their 50 overs.
Manjrekar felt that Siraj has a good chance of getting picked ahead of Mohammed Shami to replace Jasprit Bumrah in India's T20 World Cup squad.
Taking to Twitter, the former Indian batsman wrote:
“Siraj seriously pushing Shami for that Bumrah spot in the squad.”
Siraj is coming off the back of an impressive performance for Warwickshire in County Championship, where he took a fifer in his very first match. He also scalped six wickets in five ODIs in the West Indies during July-August.
Mohammed Siraj and Co. restrict South Africa to 278
A clinical bowling performance from Siraj helped India restrict the Proteas to 278/7 in 50 overs.
Debutant Shahbaz Ahmed, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Shardul Thakur took one wicket each.
Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendricks shone for South Africa with their innings of 79 and 74 runs, respectively. The duo shared a partnership of 129 runs for the third wicket.
David Miller remained unbeaten on 35 runs, while Heinrich Klassen also contributed 30 runs. However, the Proteas must have been disappointed with their efforts in the latter stages as, despite looking set to breach the 300-run barrier, they fell well short of the mark.
Speaking during the mid-game interval, Hendricks said the chase is not going to be easy on the tricky wicket.
“We were thinking at least 285. 300 was definitely on the cards had one of us batted through. They bowled well at the end, not easy as it's a tricky wicket and not easy for the new batter coming in.”
Shikhar Dhawan and Co. needed to chase down 279 to stay alive in the ODI series. The visitors are 1-0 ahead in the series after a nine-run victory in the first game. The third and final ODI between India and South Africa will take place in Delhi on Tuesday (October 9).
