'Siraj Was The Difference Maker': Former NZ Cricketer Opens Up As Indian Fast-Bowlers Fail To Pick A Single Wicket For 48 Overs

At a time when Twitteratis made Bhuvaneshwar Kumar trend as he was not playing in swinging conditions, Former NZ cricketer Simon Doull put weight behind Mohammed Siraj

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Southampton: India managed to pick just one wicket in the World Test Championship for 48 overs, and that too by the off-spinner Ravi Ashwin. Indian pacers did not give away a lot of runs but did not manage to pick a single wicket. Ishant Sharma finally picked Conway's wicket in the 49th over. 

At a time when Twitteratis made Bhuvaneshwar Kumar trend as he was not playing in swinging conditions, Former NZ cricketer Simon Doull put weight behind Mohammed Siraj. As India fail to pick many wickets, the commentators pressed on the need to have Mohammed Siraj in the side. "Mohammed Siraj was the difference-maker in the Indian side," says the former New Zealand Cricketer Simon Doull. 

"Generally, he(Ishant Sharma) is very tight and doesn't give runs away, like he did today. But I feel, Siraj would have swung the ball both ways, which would have helped the Indian bowling," he added.

There was a big debate before the match as many experts were divided between Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj. Kohli decided t with the more experienced Ishant Sharma. Eventually, the senior bowler picked up Conway's wicket but only after the entire day was dominated by the NZ batsmen. 

On stumps on Day 3, New Zealand still has got 8 wickets in hand but they are still 116 runs behind India's score. Despite some disciplined bowling by Indian bowlers, NZ batsmen did not look troubled. The fast-bowlers toiled for 48 overs without picking up a wicket. But Ishant Sharma picked up Conway's wicket just at the stroke of Day 3. 

Readers must note that this Test match has a reserved day in place as the Day 1 was washed out due to rain. Thus, there are three more days of cricket remaining in this Test match.