“It wasn’t easy to bowl here” – Mohammed Siraj after a four-fer against New Zealand

Mohammed Siraj has revealed his success mantra after taking a four-wicket haul against New Zealand in the third and final T20I in Napier on Tuesday (November 22).

The pacer said that he worked on hard length deliveries during his stint with Team India as a standby bowler in the T20 World Cup, which helped him succeed in similar conditions.

The BCCI posted the video on Twitter, with the caption:

“Presenting bowling heroes from Napier – Arshdeep and Siraj.”

In a conversation with Arshdeep Singh, Siraj said:

“I am feeling terrific as a fast bowler. Performing helps me gain confidence because I was preparing myself for a long time. I was also on standby in the T20 World Cup. So, I was preparing my plan to bowl on the hard length. It wasn’t easy to bowl here.”

The speedster also expressed his delight at representing India once again after the T20 World Cup and added that he plans to bowl economically, which will help him get the wickets.

“It’s a different joy when I represent and perform for India. My mindset in T20 cricket is whether you get the wicket or not, give fewer runs, or don’t bowl too many boundary balls. That’s my plan. I don’t try to do much.”

Siraj registered a career-best figure of 4/17 against the Blackcaps on Tuesday. He wreaked havoc in New Zealand’s batting lineup by dismissing dangerous-looking Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, and Mitchell Santner.

He also produced an impressive run-out to complete India’s team hat-trick in the penultimate over.

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Arshdeep Singh reveals who is teaching him knuckle ball

Arshdeep Singh, who also took a four-fer against New Zealand, explained that he is learning how to bowl knuckle-balls from senior seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The young left arm pacer produced a few knuckle balls against the Kiwis in the third T20I.

The left-arm pacer also revealed that he learned how to use yorkers from senior pacer Mohammed Shami during the T20I World Cup.

Arshdeep dismissed Kiwi openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway. He then took consecutive wickets in the penultimate over, including an unplayable yorker to Ish Sodhi. Along with Siraj, Arshdeep's fiery bowling helped India restrict New Zealand to a final score of 160.

Speaking to Siraj, Arshdeep said:

“Many experienced and quality bowlers are playing with me, so I try to keep learning. I am learning hard length from you [Siraj] and knuckle-ball from Bhuvi Bhai."

He continued:

"Earlier I learned how to use yorkers from Shami Bhai. I keep learning, help the team get wickets, and control the flow of runs when required.”

Siraj and Arshdeep’s clinical bowling performance saw the hosts lose six wickets for three runs in 12 deliveries before they were eventually bowled out for 160 in 19.4 overs. The match ended in a tie via the DLS method and Team India won the T20I series 1-0.