"He gets carried away with short-pitch deliveries” - Kapil Dev shares crucial advice for Mohammed Siraj

Former India all-rounder Kapil Dev reckons that pacer Mohammed Siraj has got great potential. He, however, advised the bowler to cut down on short-pitch deliveries, saying that he gets carried away a bit.

Siraj has been a key member of India’s pace bowling attack in spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s absence due to injury in recent months. Overall, the 29-year-old has featured in 21 Tests, 24 ODIs, and eight T20Is, claiming 59, 43 and 11 wickets, respectively.

Siraj has won a lot of praise for his impressive bowling performances across formats in recent years. Asked for his views on the right-arm pacer, Kapil told The Times of India:

“I think he has got great potential.” He, however, went on to add, “But I also feel he gets carried away with short-pitch deliveries. Yes, it is an important weapon for a fast bowler. When I saw India playing the WTC final, Siraj was bowling too many short-pitch deliveries whereas the Australian bowlers were pitching it up.

"Siraj has so much ability. But he has to analyze and see how many short-pitch deliveries fetch him wickets. He has the wicket-taking ability, but he has to execute his plans better,” he added.

Siraj registered figures of 4-108 and 1-80 in the WTC 2023 final against Australia at The Oval, where India went down by 209 runs.

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“Top players must play a decent amount of domestic matches” - Kapil Dev

During the interaction, Kapil also agreed with the current BCCI president and his 1983 World Cup teammate Roger Binny over international players featuring in domestic cricket.

The former all-rounder opined that doing so will help upcoming cricketers.

“Domestic cricket is most important. How many domestic matches has Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma or any of the other top players played in recent times?

"I think the top players must play a decent amount of domestic matches so that it helps the next generation of players,” Kapil said.

The former player also shared his thoughts on keeper-batter Sanju Samson, urging the cricketer to apply himself more.

“It’s not right to talk about Sanju Samson alone. We are talking about the Indian team. I think he is a great player and a wonderful talent, but he has to apply himself more,” Kapil added.

Samson registered scores of 9, 51, 12, 7 and 13 during the recently concluded tour of the West Indies.