Siraj hails lively Ahmedabad pitch after helping India bowl WI out for 162 on Day 1: 'Very excited to bowl on it'

Star India pacer Mohammed Siraj, who devastated the West Indies batting lineup with a four-wicket haul on the opening day of the Test on Thursday, said that he was overjoyed to bowl on a lively wicket in Ahmedabad.

Siraj, who had played a pivotal role in India drawing the Test series against England 2-2, resumed from where he had left off two months back by returning figures of 4/40 on a lively pitch to help dismiss the West Indies for 162 in 44.1 overs .

With skipper Shubman Gill saying that he would like his team to play on pitches that provide equal opportunities to both batters and bowlers, and are fundamentally not rank turners, Siraj led the bowling attack at the Narendra Modi Stadium to help India to a commanding position on the opening day itself.

India are 121 for two in the first innings, trailing West Indies by 41 runs with eight wickets in hand.

“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 stumps on day one.

While the pitch had a lot of green cover in the lead-up to the Test, a lot of it was shaved off but still provided enough assistance with the new ball.

Siraj used his wobble seam deliveries to great effect, taking three wickets in the morning session to set the tone for the home team.

He sent the middle stump of West Indies No 4 Brandon King cart-wheeling after the batter shouldered arms, and then dismissed skipper Roston Chase with an angled delivery.

Siraj said the delivery he bowled to Chase surprised him as well. “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, the India seamer said, “I was able to execute it the way I had planned for it. Two balls before, he was hit on the pads. I thought about bowling in the line of the stumps and I was able to execute what I had thought of.”

Coming off a long England series in which Siraj’s persistent efforts helped India earn 2-2 draw, the fast bowler admitted he felt confident having done well against a strong side on their home grounds.

“It was a very competitive series in England and, of course, I got 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.

West Indies’ Jomel Warrican said his team failed to capitalise on key moments, adding that they will have to be more disciplined with their effort going forward.

“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,” he added.