India, Nov. 14 -- It was a day of two halves for Mohammed Siraj. In his first spell with the new ball, Siraj was hit for five boundaries, which forced him to off the field with figures of 3 overs, none for 25 on Day 1 against South Africa in Kolkata. The rhythm was missing, there was no real momentum in his run-up and it appeared like he was floating the ball in.

There was considerable improvements in his second spell but Siraj was nowhere close to Jasprit Bumrah, who was giving nightmares to the South African batters whenever he got the ball in his hand. Things changed in the second session when Siraj swapped ends. He started bowling from Bumrah's end and immediately got more assistance but the wickets column was yet to change.

After t...