Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has opened up on Mohammed Siraj’s importance amid the Anderson-Tendulkar series. Siraj has picked 13 wickets in three Test matches against England in 109 overs, which is the highest for any Indian bowler in the series.
Chopra highlighted that no bowler has bowled more overs than Mohammed Siraj in the last couple of years. Since January 2024, Siraj has bowled 468.3 overs across formats and has picked 57 wickets in 42 innings.
Siraj is known to give his 120% in every spell he bowls and wears his heart on his sleeve. Chopra said Siraj has bowled a lot of overs since January 1st, 2023 and he should be appreciated.
“If you see Siraj’s workload over the last two years (since January 1, 2023), you will have to sit back and admire, and appreciate. If you talk about the fast bowlers across the world, he is in the third spot in terms of the number of overs bowled. Pat Cummins (871.3 overs), Mitchell Starc (856.2 overs) and Mohammed Siraj (792.5 overs) are there in that,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“When we look at it from the Indian point of view, no one has bowled more overs than him. In fact, if we see overall for India, he is in the second spot, only behind Jaddu. Jaddu (990 overs) has bowled nearly 1,000 overs, and he has also bowled close to 800. He bowls a lot of overs,” he added.
The renowned commentator noted that India’s think tank knows how lucky they are to have the services of Mohammed Siraj.
“Ryan ten Doeschate also said that we don’t talk about Siraj enough, but we are fortunate to have him in the team. He gives everything he has. He doesn’t hold back anything. It’s a blessing. If you look at it from a captain’s perspective, many times in Tests, you look towards your bowlers, and fast bowlers turn their backs at times. Mohammed Siraj is not one of them,” he reasoned.
Chopra highlighted that any bowler would look inferior when he bowls in partnership with a great like Jasprit Bumrah
“Not all bowlers might be as skillful as Bumrah, and at times, when you are with Bumrah, you aren’t noticed despite being skillful. You will look inferior whenever you are with an all-time great. Then people will dismiss you. It would have seemed like that when people were playing with Sachin paaji and Virat,” he said.
The former Delhi batter said Siraj depends on the fielders for his dismissals. Chopra further recalled that England wicket-keeper bat Jamie Smith was dropped by KL Rahul when he was on five in the first innings at Lord’s.
“That does not mean the guy is not good. He is skillful. Sometimes a bowler like Siraj is dependent on others. If you look at Bumrah, he gets a lot of dismissals bowled. Siraj’s best wicket-taking method is caught by others. If he doesn’t get that help, like Jamie Smith’s catch was dropped, the poor guy keeps bowling, but is unable to pick up those many wickets,” Chopra observed.
The fourth Test match between England and India will be played at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, from July 23 onwards.
