Bereaved Siraj savours emotional Test debut

India paceman Mohammed Siraj was urged by his captain Virat Kohli and his mother to stay in Australia and push for selection in the Test side rather than head home to grieve with his family following the death of his father last month.
On Saturday, at a sun-bathed Melbourne Cricket Ground, Siraj was rewarded for his tough decision as he took two wickets on an emotional debut in the Boxing Day Test. India proved there is life without captain Virat Kohli as an inspired Indian bowling unit, led by the menacing Jasprit Bumrah and the crafty Ravichandran Ashwin, bowled Australia out for 195.
India were 36 for one at stumps. Prior to Mohammed Shami's injury, Hyderabad native Siraj had no assurances he would feature at all in the four-Test series but he hit the pitch hard in the tour matches to put himself at the front of the queue.
The door opened when Shami suffered an arm fracture in the series opener, and Siraj found himself thrust into a much-changed team needing to respond to the eight-wicket humiliation within three days at Adelaide Oval.
Siraj had to bide his time on Saturday, as stand-in skipper Rahane Ajinkya opted for spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as first change bowler on a moist wicket in the morning. The captain's call proved a sound one, as Ashwin took two wickets to leave Australia shaky at 65 for three at lunch.
Siraj was finally thrown the ball after lunch and made his presence felt with a bouncer that struck Marnus Labuschagne on the helmet.
Though wicketless from his first spell, Siraj returned to remove danger man Labuschagne for 48, helped by fellow debutant Shubman Gill's fine catch at backward square leg.
With Ishant Sharma and Shami sidelined, there were fears in India that pacemen Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav would have to shoulder too big a burden over the remainder of the series but Siraj's special day renewed hope the tourists might have the resources to claw their way back in Melbourne.
"Playing his first international (test) match, he bowled really well and he showed confidence of using all his skills," he said. "That's a very heartening sign for us and hopefully he continues to play like this."