Siraj's reaction on Joe Root's 'reverse ramp' shot, 'What did he do suddenly…'

Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was surprised when veteran England batsman Joe Root played a 'reverse ramp' shot against Jasprit Bumrah and lost his wicket after spending too much time at the crease on the third day of the third Test on Saturday. Root spent almost an hour at the crease and was playing after scoring 18 runs.

However, he struggled to score runs at a fast pace like the other batsmen of the team. To increase his strike rate, he tried to play a 'reverse ramp' shot over the slip against Bumrah, but was caught by Yashvi Jaiswal at second slip. England could not even add 100 runs to their total after their partnership with Ben Duckett (153), who scored a century for the team, was broken. England's first innings ended at 319 runs, giving India a lead of 126 runs.

Siraj reacted to Root's shot

Siraj said in the post-match press conference, “Root's partnership with Ben Duckett was growing, if he had played a little more it would have been difficult for us. But suddenly he played shots which he would not have played otherwise.” Although this benefited us, after this there was a good partnership between Ben Stokes and Ben Fox but Stokes played an aggressive shot and we came back in the match. Siraj, who took four wickets in the match, praised Jaiswal (retired hurt on 104 runs) who scored a century in India's second innings. He said, “The way he is batting, his confidence is high, he is not looking back. The message from the team is for him to continue the way he is performing.”

i like to spell long

He said, “We are thinking of taking the match as far as possible so that the bowlers also get a chance to freshen up. We bowl and field in long spells. The fresher we are, the more emphasis we will be able to exert in the second innings.” The pitch at Niranjan Shah Stadium here has not given much success to the spinners so far but Siraj said that they will make an impact.

Siraj further said that in the absence of off-spinner R Ashwin, other bowlers will have to bowl for longer periods. Ashwin has withdrawn from the test due to a medical emergency in the family. Siraj said, “When we came to know in the morning that Ashwin is not our brother, more responsibility fell on us. Rohit bhai told us that we have to bowl long spells and I like to bowl long spells.”