MELBOURNE: Having claimed the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar in both the innings of the first Test at Melbourne, Australia pace spearhead Peter Siddle hopes to nail the iconic batsman again during the Test series.
“He is just another batsman. Be it openers or number 11, you just like to get wicket all the time. This time it was me, next time it could be little Patto (Pattinson) or (Nathan) Lyon,” he insisted.
Tendulkar looked in ominous touch in both the innings of the first Test, scoring 73 and 32, but Siddle struck him down each time as Australia thrashed India by 122 runs to take 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.
“There’s no big secret or plan. Both the dismissals were different. He was bowled in the first innings and caught off a slider in the second. A few good balls before that possibly put pressure on him,” he said.
The 27-year-old pacer, who claimed six wickets in the match and scored a vital 41 in the first innings, denied that he tries extra hard when the batsman at the opposite end is Tendulkar.
Siddle’s first wicket incidentally was also of Tendulkar, back in 2008 and he now has three dismissals of the champion batsman to his name.
Even the spin legend Shane Warne could not do any better during his career.
Siddle said he remembers the second evening when Tendulkar walked out to take the first strike and upper cut his first delivery over slips for a six.
“It was the edge obviously. Jokes apart, it was a good stroke, you can’t do much about it. It’s a good shot he played, someday he could also edge it to wicketkeeper and on his day carry it over fence for six,” he said.
The sturdy Victorian fast bowler needs just three wickets to complete his 100 in Tests. His 97 wickets have come from 28 Tests at an average of 30.78 with four five-wicket hauls.
He also has a hat-trick to his name, against England at Brisbane, on his birthday last year.
Siddle put down the success of Australia’s bowling in recent times to the execution of plans that the bowlers are able to do in the middle as a unit.
“It’s the pressure we build. You bowl a few short deliveries to build pressure and stop them moving their feet. It paid off but it can go either way. We need to stick together as a bowling unit and build up pressure.”
In trying to build pressure, Siddle and Pattinson, in particular appear to go overtly aggressive but the former said everyone in the team knows where to draw the line.
“We are fired up and determined on the field. Like when Dravid was bowled off a no-ball, I was fired up. But we know how far we can go.
“We go out there and play hard and fair. It’s just how it comes across. We look to get wickets all the time,” he said. Siddle believed his team had moved on from Hobart and is getting better as a unit. (PTI)