New Year, new beginnings for Siraj

The first sign of a well-laid trap came in the form of an immaculately pitched, driveable yet not-so-driveable delivery that culminated in a screamer of a catch by Yashasvi Jaiswal at second slip.

Dean Elgar chopping on to the stumps was a dismissal two innings in the making, but better late than never. Foxing Tony de Zorzi into a strangle down the leg wasn’t exactly classic Mohammed Siraj but definitely harks back to the debut tour of Australia where he exploited the leg-side so well. What took the breath away though was that hypnotic line outside off-stump, dismantling South Africa’s confidence one wicket at a time. Cape Town never looked sunnier in the aftermath of Siraj’s 6/15.

Coincidence perhaps, but at Newlands had begun India’s pace reinvention in 2018 with Jasprit Bumrah’s Test debut. By the end of that tour, Johannesburg was annexed. A year later, Australia. And then again, in 2021. England, nearly. Sure, India’s batters have carved some riveting innings but not half of those wins would have been possible without their fast bowling riches. Which is why Siraj’s haul is so timely, because the pace attack was slowly getting typecast as a one-man show.

Siraj isn’t an automatic pick if all fast bowlers are available. And that tells you something about the evolution of Indian fast bowling. It was not for nothing that the bulk of the attention in the past year and more was consumed by the talk over Bumrah’s fitness. Mohammed Shami seemed to fly under the radar till he started owning the ODI World Cup. Siraj didn’t exactly slink away in all this noise. If demolishing Sri Lanka with 6/21 in the Asia Cup final was a timely reminder of his white-ball credentials, Wednesday’s haul can be firmly put alongside some of the great bowling spells in modern cricket.

Not since January 2010 has any fast bowler bowled better than Siraj in the first innings of an away Test. ‘Away’ is crucial because it weeds away the countless home fifers of Stuart Broad, or from James Anderson, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Dale Steyn. Anderson still finds his name on the ‘away’ list, and more admirably on a Galle pitch in 2021 where he toiled from one end to take 6/40 even as his mates conceded truckloads of runs. More crippling however was Mohammad Asif’s 6/41 at Sydney in 2010, causing Australia to crumble for 127 in a match they eventually won by only 36 runs. Ishant Sharma finds himself twice on that list, during the 2014 tour of New Zealand (6/134 and 6/51), but neither comes with immense recall value.

But this automatically qualifies as special. No fast bowler has conceded as few as Siraj, or probably bowled as long in one spell. Nine overs on the trot takes the mind back to the times when it was the norm and not an aberration, when bowling first in seaming conditions was an excuse to deploy a seven-two field, lob the new ball to your best swing bowler and give him the licence to go wild. That fundamentally means peppering that driveable length with such a tiring monotony that the batter edges the ball almost subconsciously.

Bumrah isn’t seeking that length as much these days. Over a decade into his career, Shami too has erred sometimes. But 22 Tests into his career, Siraj seems to be hitting that spot as a default setting. This, for someone who hadn’t got the feel of bowling with a proper cricket ball till he was nearly 18.

That isn’t all. That tempting length, curled into the batter with a wispy action, followed by just a hint of outswing are ingredients of the event that every seaming delivery grows into. Aiden Markram copped one, as did Marco Jansen. But with Siraj, the one that slices further into the right-hander makes for an even more interesting caveat. Imagine trying to go on to the front foot with a straight bat, eyes peeled on the ball, aiming to play as late as possible to cover the swing. Only, the ball keeps coming into you after pitching, at 135kph plus. Kyle Verreynne now knows what it feels like.

On the face of it, South Africa’s implosion could be interpreted as one of those bad days every side is bound to endure irrespective of their consolidated batting potential. That conclusion seemed more relatable as the day progressed with Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada lopping off India’s innings with six wickets in two overs. A more just view, however, should project Siraj’s spell as the epitome of new-ball seam bowling — relentless, all rhythm, on point and so naggingly tormenting that it drew South Africa into unforced errors that set off a spectacular chain of events.