IND vs SA: "Jassi bhai told me that..." Mohammed Siraj reveals how Jasprit Bumrah's advice turned his bad day into a good one in Kolkata

Mohammed Siraj picked two wickets, while Jasprit Bumrah bagged a five-wicket haul in first innings of the Kolkata test.

Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah were the mainstays for their team with the ball on day 1 of the first test between Indian Cricket Team and South Africa Cricket Team on Friday, November 14. The duo shared a total of seven wickets between them to put the Proteas side on the back foot on the first day itself.

With his five-wicket haul, Bumrah stole the limelight with the ball. After South Africa captain Temba Bavuma opted to bat first, opener Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton provided a good start to their team with their quick 57-run stand.

However, Bumrah dismissed both of them in the first session, providing his team with early breakthroughs. After that, he dismissed Tony de Zorzi, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj to help India bowl out the Proteas for 159 runs and capture five wickets for 27 runs in his 14-over spell.

Siraj struggled to get wickets in the first session as he looked pretty sloppy, however, he later clinched two wickets in the second session. Dismissing both Kyle Verreynne and Marco Jansen in the 45th over, Siraj gave a big blow to the visitors.

Mohammed Siraj reveals Jasprit Bumrah’s advice for getting wickets

During a chat with commentators on JioHotstar after the end of day 1, Siraj revealed that Bumrah told him that the only way to get wickets was to bowl at the stumps. Hence, he utilised the idea while bowling. He also added that it was difficult for batters to score runs due to the variable bounce at the pitch.

“Jassi bhai [Jasprit Bumrah] just told me that the wicket-taking option was if you bowl at the stumps, you’ve LBW, bowled and even catches coming to play when the line is accurate. We are in a good position having lost just one wicket, (earlier) Markram and Rickelton put on a good stand, we did well to comeback and I think we’re ahead of the match at the moment,” he said.

“The new ball was coming on nicely to the bat, but when the ball went soft, the bounce became low as well. My mindset was to bowl full and at the stumps. There has been some reverse swing on offer, if you bowl stump-to-stump, you’ll get options to take wickets and it isn’t easy for batters to score runs. One end is fine to bat, the other end – the bounce is variable and it’s tough to score,” Siraj added.

Meanwhile, Markram (31) was the highest run-scorer for the visitors as other batters failed to cross the 30-run mark. In response to South Africa’s 159/10, the hosts scored 37/1 at stumps on day 1, losing opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (12) cheaply. KL Rahul (13*) and Washington Sundar (6*) will resume batting on day two.

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