India pacer Mohammed Siraj said he was thrilled to bowl on a green-top track after a lengthy sabbatical after destroying the West Indies batting order with a four-wicket haul on the first day of the first Test on Thursday.
On a lively Ahmedabad pitch, Siraj, who had been instrumental in India’s 2-2 draw with England in the Test series, picked up where he left off two months ago, recording figures of 4-40 to help dismiss the West Indies for 162 in 44.1 overs.
Siraj spearheaded the bowling assault to put India in a dominant position on the first day of play, after captain Shubman Gill’s declaration that he would prefer his team to play on neutral grounds rather than rank turners in Test matches at home.
At Stumps on Day 1, India was 41 runs behind the West Indies at 121/2 in the first innings.
“I was very excited to bowl on this green-top wicket, something we don’t get very often in India in Test cricket. The last time we had such a wicket was against New Zealand in Bengaluru, so I was very excited to bowl on it,” Siraj told the media after play.
Even though there was a lot of green cover on the surface before the Test, most of it was shaved off, but it was still useful for the new ball. Siraj set the tone for the hosts in the first session by grabbing three wickets with his wobbling seam deliveries.
He dismissed captain Roston Chase with an angled delivery after Brandon King shouldered arms and sent his middle stump cartwheeling.
Siraj admitted that even he was surprised by the delivery that dismissed Chase. “With the wobble seam, the ball either comes in or cuts out. But that delivery kept straightening from the shiny side while I had bowled it with wobble seam,” he said.
Talking about King’s dismissal, Siraj said, “I was able to execute it the way I had planned. Two balls before, he was hit on the pads. I thought about bowling in the line of the stumps and was able to execute it.”
Siraj acknowledged that he felt confident after performing well against a formidable team in their home ground during a lengthy England series, where his tenacious efforts helped India secure a grueling 2-2 draw.
“It was a very competitive series in England and, of course, I drew a lot of confidence from it. To perform against a strong side gives a different kind of confidence and I felt it today as well,” he said.
“I took off for three weeks, then resumed training and bowling and played the India A game. When you play after a long gap, you also learn about your rhythm. It was very hot in Lucknow but I had a good preparation before the series. I followed up on my rhythm from the England tour but I enjoyed this break which I got after several years.
“I had to work hard for these four wickets here as well. Even in England, I had to work hard for getting wickets, it’s not the case that you can get wickets just like that. No one gave me the fifth wicket (today), I had to take all four with hard work,” he said.
Jomel Warrican of the West Indies claimed that his side missed out on important opportunities and that they will need to work harder in the future.
“We just failed to capitalise on the key moments in the game. We need to seize those key moments. For example, we had a key partnership between Shai (Hope) and Roston just before lunch, but we let India back into the game. That’s something as a unit we need to improve on and we definitely know we’re going to learn going forward,” he said.
“Discipline is the key here right now, obviously our first series total (on Thursday) was not a big one, so we have to be extremely disciplined as a bowling unit, and we’re going to stick to our plans as long as possible.”
