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Watch: Mohammed Siraj grabs sensational flying one-handed catch against the West Indies

by Wisden Staff July 13, 2023 - 11:46am 3 minute read

Watch: During India’s first Test against the West Indies, Mohammed Siraj held onto a one-handed flying catch to dismiss Jermaine Blackwood off Ravindra Jadeja.

The West Indies were in disarray after opting to bat at Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica. R Ashwin took out Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Brathwaite in quick succession, while debutant wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan took a low catch off Shardul Thakur to dismiss Raymon Reifer.

However, Jermaine Blackwood and debutant Alick Athanaze held the fort, and pushed the score to 68-3 as Ravindra Jadeja came to bowl the last ball before lunch.

The ball was on off stump, and Blackwood tried to loft it straight down the ground. It was a relatively safe shot, for Mohammed Siraj, the mid-off fielder, was not renowned for his athleticism.

But Siraj was up for the challenge. After running a few steps to his right, he leapt up and towards his right, and came back with a one-handed catch. He bruised his elbow as it hit the ground hard, but that did not dampen his celebrations.

It was the 10th catch of Siraj’s Test career, and the second one he’s taken off Jadeja. He had previously caught Pat Cummins off Jadeja at Melbourne in 2020/21.

Lunch was taken at that point. By the third session, Ashwin (5-60) and Jadeja (3-26) bowled out the West Indies for 150, the third-lowest all-out total at the venue. Athanaze (47) was the only home batter to go past 20.

By stumps, debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal (40 not out) captain Rohit Sharma (30 not out) took India to 80-0. They still trail by 70.