Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj got back his number one spot in the men's ICC ODI bowling rankings after his brilliant six-wicket haul in the final of the recently passed Asia Cup 2023. The Hyderabad-based pacer sealed the top spot for the first time back in January but then Australia's pacer Josh Hazlewood replaced him in March. His outstanding spell against Sri Lanka helped him surge eight spots in the rankings. He also guided the Indian team to a facile 10-wicket victory in the summit clash.
Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav has gone down three places to ninth while Jasprit Bumrah climbed up two places to 27th while Hardik Pandya rose eight spots to 50th. Talking about the batters, openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma have managed to retain their second and 10th spots respectively while star batter Virat Kohli moved up to eighth.
It was during the Asia Cup 2023 final against Sri Lanka when Siraj starred with the ball for the Indian team on Sunday. He ended up with exceptional figures of 6 for 21, helping India bowl out Sri Lanka for a mere 50 runs. In reply, the Indian openers Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill reached the target in 6.1 overs to help India seal their eighth Asia Cup title.
“Last time also I took four wickets against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram but could not take five then. But I realised you only get what is written for you. I just tried to execute on my line and length and that worked,” said Siraj.
“To be honest, when I started playing white ball cricket I just wanted to go for swing but that did not happen too often. Today, I got swing and got the batters to edge and mistime their shots,” Siraj added.
“This wicket was such that you do not chase dismissals. Just hit the right length and you get the wickets,” Siraj said during the innings break.