IND vs ENG: 109 overs and counting! Mohammed Siraj bends, but doesn't break
TimesofIndia.com in Manchester:
Mohammed Siraj
never stops. He is in your face, ready to bowl the next over, and never shies away from putting his mind, body, and soul on the line every time he takes the field for India.
A trier who may not always succeed, but succeeds in always trying.
There is a lot of honesty with which he goes about his business, and it is evident right from the preparations before every game. Whether that is bowling, batting, or fielding, he keeps the intensity high in all his sessions and has continued to shoulder most of the fast bowling workload in the last two years for India in the longest format.
India's spearhead
Jasprit Bumrah
has had to miss games due to workload and injury concerns.
There has been constant change in personnel due to fitness and combination requirements, but Siraj has been the lone ranger who continues to roar, with eyes firmly locked on the opposition. There could be criticism of his consistency or inability to hit the rhythm from the go, but not a single finger will be raised about the intensity he brings to the field.
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And maintaining intensity and playing the number of games he has played — 24 out of India's 27 Tests since 2023 — is no joke, especially when he has seen others around him break down, miss matches due to fitness, and get rotated for workload. Workload and rotation, the two fancy and trending keywords in
Indian cricket
, don't apply to Hyderabad's gully boy.
Why Team India came to Manchester from London via train and walked in rain
"We take for granted how lucky we are to have someone like that. I know he doesn't always get the returns you might expect from a fast bowler, but in terms of heart, he's like a lion. Every time he has the ball in hand, you get the sense that something is about to happen," India's assistant coach
Ryan ten Doeschate
said in a media interaction. "He's not someone who's ever going to shy away from a workload, which makes it all the more important for us to manage it carefully," he added.
So far, the Indian think tank, featuring different personnel, is yet to "manage" Siraj because more often than not, others around him need to be managed. Akash Deep missed the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Jasprit Bumrah couldn't bowl in the final innings of the SCG Test and missed a lot of cricket after that, but Siraj kept going. He featured in all five Tests in Australia, and the only break he got was when he was overlooked for the Champions Trophy campaign in Dubai — again, a break he never asked for.
Ryan ten Doeschate press conference: Updates on Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Arshdeep Singh
Cut to 2025 in England, the script has followed a similar theme as Bumrah will not play more than three Tests, Akash Deep limped off the field during the Lord's Test, and Arshdeep Singh injured his bowling hand during the net session in Beckenham. Siraj? Well, he keeps going. Even on a flat track in Birmingham, the trier bent his back and returned with a six-wicket haul, earning a lot of praise from bowling coach
Morne Morkel
.
"Siraj is a guy that I've got a lot of respect for.
He's a guy that always will push his body to the limits. I think sometimes the guilty part of him is trying too hard, so for us, it's about managing that sort of aggression and managing that intensity because he really bowls with his heart on his sleeve. I think sometimes those sorts of things can give you that inconsistency.
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"In a match where he's now the leader of the attack, he got the wickets, but for me, in terms of effort and energy and with a sore body, he's always done and will put his hand up, and he wants to bowl that over.
I don't think sometimes we give him enough credit for that," said Morkel on his heroics at Edgbaston.
Still two matches left, and Siraj has already sent down 109 overs in the three Tests for his 13 scalps. The pieces around him continue to move, change, and get managed, but Siraj keeps going. The arrangement has worked so far, but the management needs to now start looking after the pillar that is keeping the Indian pace attack steady, even in testing circumstances and conditions.
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