Mohammed Siraj has bowled the most overs (181.2) in the ongoing series between India and England and also leads the list of wicket-takers with 20 scalps.

Amid growing concerns about the bowler’s workload, India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel revealed that a major reason for the pacer to continue has been his perseverance.

“There were conversations with him (before the fifth Test at The Oval) just to check about how he was feeling mentally and physically because of the amount of overs he had bowled, but he was the first guy to say, ‘Listen, I want to play this Test match, I want to win it for the team’,” Morkel said.

“So, not just on the bowling front, but it’s the attitude that is great.”

With Jasprit Bumrah playing just three Tests, Siraj took up the responsibility to put on the hard yards for India’s pace attack. “He’s willing to run in all day. I’m not surprised, and that’s why he’s got the numbers,” Morkel added.

India’s decision to go with three fast bowlers has raised eyebrows, but Morkel defended the decision, saying it was taken to add more runs.

“That was part of the conversation before every selection so far. We just felt — leading into the Test match — that going with the extra batter was going to be important. In the last two Test matches, our fourth seamer didn’t really bowl that much because Washi (Washington Sundar) and (Ravindra) Jadeja also could hold up a hand and bowl some overs,” Morkel added.

“They just thought that having a bit of extra runs on the board was more important,” Morkel said, adding that they will discuss the issue once the tour is over.

Woakes ready

Chris Woakes, who dislocated his left shoulder on the first day of the fifth Test, is ready to bat in the second innings if the need arises, Joe Root confirmed.

“He (Woakes) is in a huge amount of pain. We have seen in the series how Pant batted with a broken foot. Woakes is ready to put his body on the line for England,” Root said.