Mohammed Siraj opens up on throwing ball towards stumps when Steve Smith backed out on day 2 of ICC WTC final

Mohammed Siraj picked up 4 wickets against Australia in the first innings of the ICC WTC final.

Australia are in a comfortable position against India in the World Test Championship final at The Oval. Steve Smith and Travis Head smashed centuries to put Australia in command over India. Steve Smith took no time in completing his hundred and touched his 31st test ton milestone with two consecutive boundaries to Mohammed Siraj in the first over of the second day. Steve Smith smashed 121 runs in his innings and also added 285 runs with Travis Head for the 4th wicket. Mohammed Siraj had a decent outing with the ball on day 2 and picked up 4 wickets in the inning. As Smith was going strong during his inning, Siraj had few of his moments against the right-hand batter. 

Siraj denied any mind game against Steve Smith

During the press conference a journalist asked Mohammed Siraj about his strategy against Steve Smith and about the moment when he threw the ball at Steve Smith angrily when the batter walked away from the stumps due to inconvenience. Talking about the incident Siraj said, “It's nothing. It was just some enjoyment. If you enjoy it your mind will be relaxed. If you take too much pressure, it will affect your bowling. So, it's nothing”. The reporter again asked him if it was anywhere related to a strategy or a mind game against Smith, Siraj denied it and further added, “It was nothing. No plans of frustrating him. I was just enjoying my bowling. I was frustrated at that time”. Siraj looked in good rhythm against Australian batters on day 2. 

Indian batters have struggled to put up a fight against Australia’s mammoth total of 469 runs. Lack of application and lack of off-stump awareness was visible against the Australian pace attack. Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara identically lost their wickets. Mitchell Starc sent back Virat Kohli with an unplayable short-pitch delivery. India needs 118 more runs to avoid follow-on and they are already 6 down till this report is done. Ajinkya Rahane needs someone to build a partnership against Australia’s big score.