The images that define Mohammed Siraj so far in this Test series have been tragic. The ball spinning off a stout defensive block and dribbling to knock the stumps in Lord’s. The heel nudging the ropes as he completed the catch of Harry Brook at the Oval. The anguished face when fielders kept shelling catches at Leeds.
There are those of rage and anger. The scowl at Ben Duckett in Lord’s. The sighs and oohs. The redeeming frame would be the worldie that consumed Jacob Bethell. A more defining, and happier, one might await him on Monday. But irrespective of the outcome, it was the series when he became the talisman of a weary, wounded and callow Indian bowling band.
When he took the unenviable responsibility of spearheading a bowling firm of threadbare experience, when he filled the void of Jasprit Bumrah in the games he missed and those that the talisman was not his lethal self. When he bowled more than any other bowler in the series and took more wickets than any other (21), when he waged lone futile battles, when he kept India in the game, twice in this game alone, and when he shed every drop of sweat and energy into the series.
Like late on Sunday evening, under sombre skies he bowled eight overs on the trot to keep the pressure on England. Back-to-back fours by Joe Root roused him in the 66th over. In the next 37 balls of heat and fury, he conceded only five runs, all nervy singles. He wobble-seamed the ball inwardly to the right-hander and swung the ball; or held the line using an upright seam position, orbited towards the batsmen by the dexterous wrists of his. His whooping nip-backers first induced doubts in Root and Bethell when everything seemed smooth-sailing. His accomplice Prasidh Krishna reaped the benefits. It is such a tragic flaw that his labours often go unnoticed.
His fate is akin to generations of batsmen in the Sachin Tendulkar era. Like a brigade of them whose contributions the great batsman overshadowed, Siraj’s shine had been lost in the radiance of Bumrah. He is no Bumrah, a down-and-outest outlier, but it is his plight to be constantly compared to Bumrah. From speed to deviation, wits to craft, the benchmark is the exorbitantly gifted Bumrah, even though Siraj is a diamond by himself. Intelligent and witty, with a heart of granite and the body of a thoroughbred.
He promises one vital dimension that Bumrah cannot guarantee: availability. The modest sedan is often more useful than the Rolls Royce in the garage, better mileage and easy navigation. Siraj made his Test debut three years after Bumrah, but he has played only seven Tests fewer than Bumrah has. In both Australia and England, he bowled more overs than Bumrah did (157.1 and 181.2, as opposed to 151.2 and 119.4). Bumrah nabbed more wickets (46 in eight games) than Siraj (41 in 10 games), expectedly, but that does not diminish Siraj’s impassioned dedication to his team’s case. Almost 20 overs an innings on atypical England surfaces, largely bereft of grass and moisture, a series that has seen action on each of the 24 days of play.
Siraj has been at the heart of India’s bowling effort because he was there and no one else was. He is the only bowler who has featured in all of India’s last four overseas Test tours. Even in Tests since January 2023, he has missed just three of the last 16 games. Mohammed Shami was battling injuries, Bumrah was preserved for marquee tournaments and series. Siraj enjoyed few such considerations, because he was both durable and willing. He is the guarantee that enables Bumrah to replenish and reload.
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There have been times when the repeated stretching of the sinews has compromised the sting of his bowling. The pouring of emotions has fatigued his mind. But whatever the state of his mind, or the condition of his body, he has perpetually steamed in, bowled as hard and tough as he could, as though every ball he bowled was the best ball he could. He, definitely, is imperfect. He could be scattergun, moody and frustratingly unpredictable, but not because his mind is not there, but because he simply can’t reproduce his best day in and day out, in every single Test he plays.
Somehow, he becomes double the bowler he is when Bumrah is not around. Something stirs in him. Perhaps it originates from the increased responsibility, a subconscious coping mechanism to the situation, one that performs better in adversity. Maybe he feels a sense of liberation when the shadow of Bumrah does not lean onto him. Maybe it’s just happenstance.
Even on Sunday, when all had given up, Siraj did not. He bent his back, hit the deck hard, and strove for movement, even if his body sometimes rebelled. The numbers are unflattering, but the toil behind it is not. He struck almost as frequently as Bumrah did (52 and 51.28). There were spells he was unstoppable. There was energy and intensity, difficult attributes to sustain in a long and gruelling tour, bowling with a ragged support cast. For all those junctures of grief and what-if moments, Siraj could reflect on a tour wherein he gave everything and emerged as the leader of this young and raw Indian fast-bowling group. And he, more than anyone else, would barrel down the stairway believing that India could win the Test and draw the series. For one last defining image of the series. A happier one, he would wish.
