Mohammed Siraj: India's underrated workhorse in Tests

There has been significant discussion about the workload of India's star pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, and rightfully so. The 31-year-old emerged as the sole match-winner for India down under as they faced the Kangaroos in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Bumrah's unmatched run across the five Tests earned him the Player of the Series accolade, despite India's 1-3 loss against the hosts. However, another pacer in the team fared relatively quietly over the course of a month and a half. Though Bumrah took the most wickets in the series, Mohammed Siraj put in similar hard yards, if not more. Interestingly, Siraj bowled more overs than India's pace spearhead in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, although his tally of 20 wickets is nowhere close to Bumrah's unbeaten tally of 32.

There were many elements at play simultaneously that laid the path for Australia to reclaim the Border Gavaskar Trophy after a decade-long wait. A lot of those elements, unfortunately, stemmed from the Indian team. Following the conclusion of the series, the batting order has picked up most of the scrutiny for the defeat. However, another glaring reason was the side's inability to pick and settle on one team combination. Over the course of the five matches, India dropped the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill, and, of course, Rohit Sharma. Meanwhile, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, and Prasidh Krishna all got to play at one point or another. However, the unsettling planning led to increased pressure on Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in the BGT.

At the spicy pitches of Australia, none of the faces in the squad emerged as the reliable third pacer sharing the load with Bumrah and Siraj. The team handed a debut to Harshit Rana in Perth before dropping him ahead of the third match, the Gabba Test, due to unflattering returns in Perth and Adelaide. While it seemed like India had settled on Akash Deep, an injury limited his stay in the team only until the Boxing Day Test. Finally, Prasidh Krishna got the chance to play for the team in the Sydney Test. Moreover, India's only pace all-rounder in the squad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, turned up more as an extra batting option than as a dedicated pacer in the lineup.

Mohammed Siraj bowled the most overs for India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy

Mohammed Siraj picked up significant slack for his returns in the initial phase of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. While he grabbed the headlines for his infamous altercation with Travis Head in Adelaide, his bowling tally didn't match the on-field aggression. The calls for dropping him grew louder when Siraj leaked 122 runs in 23 overs in the first innings of the Boxing Day Test. However, Siraj turned things around in the subsequent match with 3 wickets in as many overs while also bringing down the economy to 3.04. Moreover, the lack of wickets in his account might have urged the frustrated fans to criticize Siraj.

However, a keen look at the bowling department in the Border Gavaskar Trophy shows that Siraj put in the most hard work on the field. Over the five matches, Siraj bowled 157.1 overs, the highest for India and the second-highest overall. Meanwhile, Bumrah, who missed the second innings of the Sydney Test, bowled 151.2 overs. Notably, the Australian captain, Pat Cummins, bowled the most overs, taking 25 wickets in 167 overs across the five matches. Moreover, why Siraj's presence for India was crucial is explained by the fact that the next highest number of overs bowled by an Indian bowler in the series was just 77.5 overs, by Akash Deep. As India searched for a third seam option, Bumrah and Siraj continued their grind consistently. Nitish Kumar Reddy, the only other pacer to play all five matches, bowled only 44 overs, scalping 5 wickets.

Beyond the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy, Mohammed Siraj has played the most matches for India in the WTC 2023-25 cycle among all the pace options. While Mohammed Shami marked an injury-marred absence from the cycle, Siraj played 17 out of the 19 matches for India in the cycle. Bumrah, meanwhile, played 15 matches. While it is an understandable fact that Bumrah's return with the wickets puts him a notch above Siraj in the Indian setup, the latter has proved equally vital to share the workload, especially in the long-extended absence of Mohammed Shami.