Pacer Siraj set for baptism of fire in Test cricket (Profile)

New Delhi, Dec 25 : Hyderabad pace bowler Mohammed Siraj will face baptism of fire when he makes Test debut in the second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground starting on Saturday.
The right-arm pace bowler has finally been rewarded for his performances in domestic first-class cricket and for India A, and replaces Mohammed Shami whose bowling arm was fractured by a delivery from Pat Cummins last Saturday, during the first Test in Adelaide.
The 26-year-old Hyerabadi has played in ODIs (1) and T20Is (3). He had made his first-class debut in 2015 and has taken 152 wickets in 38 matches so far.
On the current tour of Australia, he played both the warm-up matches and had spells of 3/83, 1/26 and 1/54.
Siraj had been a consistent performer all this while but shot into limelight recently after becoming the first bowler in IPL’s 13-year history to bowl two maiden overs, that too wicket-maiden, for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Siraj was the leading wicket-taker for Hyderabad in Ranji Trophy in 2016/17, with 41 wickets. That performance catapulted him and landed him a contract with SunRisers Hyderabad in IPL 2017.