Former India leg-spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan feels Bharat Arun has had a huge influence on Mohammad Siraj's growth as a fast bowler. Siraj has been exceptional in red-ball cricket ever since making his debut in the Boxing Day Test against Australia last year.
The 27-year-old has made his mark with the ability to bowl long spells, extract seam movement from the wicket and his irreplaceable energy. He was associated with current Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun, way before making an appearance for the Indian cricket team. Siraj worked closely with the coach during his time with Hyderabad. He had first met Arun as a 20-year old, back when Arun was the bowling coach of Kings XI Punjab.
Sivaramakrishnan feels that Arun imparted a lot of knowledge to Siraj, the rewards of which he is currently reaping. While speaking to the Hindustan Times, he said:
βSirajβs success also has a lot to do with Arun. When he was the coach for Hyderabad for a year or so, he identified Siraj. And to Sirajβs credit, he had the hunger and desire to learn. Arun imparted a lot of knowledge,β
The pacer decided to stay in Australia following the death of the father and had an eventful debut series. He was even entrusted to lead the attack in the Gabba Test following a string of injuries to first-team players.
He notched his maiden five-wicket haul in the iconic Test win and was close to etching his name on the iconic Lord's honor board after claiming twin four-wicket hauls in the second Test.
Sivaramakrishnan believes that Siraj has done exactly what Arun has wanted him to do. He added:
βSiraj has just followed him. Some people might doubt it. Be skeptical whether it is the right thing to do or not but Siraj took Arun as his guru and went about doing exactly what he wanted him to do. Arun must have then passed it on to Shastri,β
Siraj was at his imperious best during the fourth innings of the Lord's Test. Indian bowlers were in a race against time to bowl out the England unit. Siraj's strikes in quick succession did not allow England to gain sizeable momentum and they ultimately fell to a 151-run defeat against India.
Reply
