‘Isko koi bataao ye Sri Lanka nahi hai’ – Fans react as Mohammed Siraj claims magnificent 5-wicket haul against South Africa in 2nd Test

India had a brilliant start to the new year and the second Test as they are about to bundle up the South African batting lineup in the first session of the first innings. Coupled with a brilliant bowling spell from Mohammad Siraj who was assisted by Jasprit Bumrah and a great captaincy from Rohit Sharma helped India to get a good start in the first session of the Cape Town Test.

Siraj has been on a roll at the moment against South Africa. The right-arm pacer has bowled probably his greatest spell in cricket till now. The star pacer has been right on the money. The seam position of the pacer has been so good that the batters of the home side have been clueless. It has been a spell of the highest quality when needed the most.

While Siraj has been more penetrative and has been right into the batters, Bumrah has bowled well too. As Siraj dismissed Markram and Elgar in quick succession, Bumrah waited for his opportunities to be at the batters. The star bowler kept on bowling at good length. He got the right amount of seam and induced the edge of the batters. Some of them did not quite carry to the fielders.

Brilliant captaincy from Rohit Sharma

As Rohit Sharma saw the rhythm of Bumrah and Siraj, he decided to have a unique fieldset. Rohit got himself in the short leg and displayed an attacking field set. The debutant Tristan Stubbs got to face a ball that bounced a bit more than anticipated. He edged it and had no clue where it travelled. The ball went straight to the hands of Rohit Sharma at short leg.

It was a good captaincy from Rohit who was clever to have an aggressive field set. Bumrah got his first wicket of the match. But the good work of bowling was continued by Siraj who claimed yet another wicket in the form of Tony De Zorzi. The right-arm pacer took his 5th wicket by dismissing Marco Jansen. At the time of writing, South Africa were 48/8.

Here’s how the fans reacted to the news –