Mohammed Siraj press conference: preparing for series decider vs New Zealand
Asked if he had been captain before, Siraj said, “Yes, I was captain earlier in the Hyderabad league and now I am doing it again. It is a good opportunity and I will enjoy it.”Siraj, who bowled several bouncers as a pacer, showed that he was aware that he had to dodge them as well. “It would be better if you handle the ball with Arshdeep considering the ground is small and the pitch is flat,” the reporter asked him.Siraj chose the moment to praise his younger bowling colleague Harshit Rana. “Look, Harshit has bowled very well. You can see he is taking wickets with the new ball. The captain and the coach decide who plays and when. As a bowler, I think if the opposition is under pressure and wickets are falling, I want to create pressure from my end as well. I don’t want to run away – I want to play the ball in one area and create pressure, so another senior wicket comes.Siraj also pointed out that the idea of leading the Indian team may have been to give “confidence and exposure” to more players while trying to build a squad for the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. “Arshdeep also did very well against South Africa. If someone else gets an opportunity now, that’s also good. Looking at the World Cup, it gives confidence and exposure to more players, which is important for the future,” he said.‘He has been rested since the SA series’Meanwhile, Siraj clarified that he was “rested” from the home ODI series against South Africa and was not dropped. “I was rested in the last series against South Africa because I bowled almost 40 overs in the five-day Test. As a fast bowler, rest is very important because the workload increases a lot. You have to rest, refuel and then come back and focus on your rhythm and bowling.”