‘Miyaan bhai ka jalwa hai’ – Fans go crazy as Mohammed Siraj becomes New No. 1 bowler in ODIs ahead of Australia series

On 17 September 2023, Mohammed Siraj lit up the R Premadasa Stadium, in Colombo with his six-wicket haul against Sri Lanka in the final of the recently concluded Asia Cup. He was the player of the match as India won that game with ease. In that competition, Siraj was the second-highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets in four games, at an average of 12.20.

Now, on 20 September, he got rewarded for his performances as Mohammed Siraj became the new number one-ranked bowler in ODIs. He is in the squad for all the three upcoming home ODIs against Australia and ahead of that series, it’s great news for both the bowler and Team India fans. Seeing this, fans went crazy and shared their views on social media.  

“He bowled seven overs which is a lot.” – Rohit Sharma on Mohammed Siraj

However, this is the second time this year that Siraj has become the number one-ranked bowler in the 50-over format. Previously, he was in that position between January and March 2023. After that, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood became the number-one bowler. Now, Siraj tops the chart with 694 rating points. While Hazlewood is in the second spot with 678 rating points. 

After the final, during the post-match press conference, Team India skipper, Rohit Sharma heaped praises on Siraj and said: “I was surprised with the pitch. It was pleasing to watch from the slips. The guys were bowling quick, all three pacers [Jasprit Bumrah being the third] bent their back really well. Siraj got it to bend more than the other two guys. Every day everyone can’t be a hero, you’ll find new heroes everyday and today was Siraj’s day.”

“We all complimented him and were behind him when he was bowling that spell. He bowled seven overs which is a lot. I wanted to keep bowling him, but I got a message from our trainer that we need to stop him now. He was also quite desperate to bowl. That’s the nature of any bowler or any batter when they see the opportunity, they want to pounce on it,” Rohit further added.

Here is how fans have reacted:

https://twitter.com/ViratianPost/status/1704400402001834325

https://twitter.com/Kulal99/status/1704400219427971123