One of India's trialled third seamers, the Hyderabad right-arm pacer has relished playing the stand-in lead quick in absence of Bumrah and Shami.
In a cricketing season consumed by the T20 World Cup in Australia, the ODI series against South Africa provided a brief but adequate glimpse of India’s prep for the 50-over World Cup at home next year.
In a three-match series that forced South Africa to field their full-strength XI or else risk losing out on points that might dent their World Cup qualification, India came back strong after a narrow defeat in Lucknow to comprehensively beat the more-fancied opponents in Ranchi and Delhi.
With almost their entire first-choice playing unit based in Perth, India flexed their quality and depth over three matches and came out triumphant against a side that flattered to deceive, missing out on a rare opportunity to dominate on Indian shores.
Shubman Gill continued to press hard for regular selection at the top of the order; while Shreyas Iyer made a terrific feast of Virat Kohli’s absence in keeping his case strong as the great batter’s immediate backup at No.3. Either side of those two, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson did no harm to their cause either.
Respective run-chases in Lucknow and Ranchi not just reflected the abundance of talent Samson and Iyer possess but also how cruel it is on them to be part of a system awash with rich batting pedigree. To score runs is their only means of relevance: they must continue to deliver in their sporadic opportunities or risk someone else pipping them over.
Yet for all the positives with bat in hand, the biggest gain arrived with the ball. Decried for his erratic bowling for major part of his career, Mohammed Siraj has been a speedster transformed this year in ODIs. India’s third seamer when the incumbents Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami are around, Siraj has taken their absence as an opportunity to elevate his game a notch higher. That is with both, the new and the old ball.
Playing 12 of India’s 18 50-over internationals in 2022, Siraj has averaged only 24.00 for his 18 scalps while carrying an encouraging economy rate of 4.45. In a two-fold revival, Siraj has unlocked wickets in the first powerplay for India: averaging 15.66 in that phase with an ER of 3.55. And reintroduced himself to the set-up as a reasonably dependable option at the death: going for only 6.50 an over.
Now, India’s ODI calendar has been flushed with matches against lesser opposition for the year; nine of those matches have come facing West Indies and Zimbabwe. But the quality on display from Siraj versus South Africa was evidence of his resurgence after initial years of stumbling under the Kohli-Shastri regime. The pacer made his ODI debut in early 2019 but not before 2022 did he have a regular go in the side, a gap that had a negative impact on his growth.
A spree of games prior to the trip to England in July and then the South African one-dayers at home in October has told positively on his bowling: the pacer averaged 14.66 in the first powerplay and had a death-overs economy rate of less than five in India’s 2-1 series win, having earlier bowled a decent spell of 2/66 in the series-decider in Manchester. For Siraj, the key seems to be role clarity and assurance, and the speedster comes out with his best.
Much of the focus over the past week has revolved around his looming flight to Australia and whether Mohammed Siraj would make the T20 World Cup squad. What has skipped the eyeballs is his notable upsurge into a prominent ODI bowler.
If anything, the latter is the bigger of the two positives, for Siraj is still an unproven customer in T20. That the ODI game allows for greater leeway to raw skills may withstand even here but that is no bane on the quick’s gradually improving nature.
The usual Indian build-up to a 50-over World Cup in the subcontinent would be based on their spin strength: with the bat and the ball. But a year before the big event, it seems much of India’s fortunes would depend on their pace department.
Partly down to the fresh pitches across the country in October-November, unlike the 2011 event played in February-March, and partly due to a scenario, wherein beyond Yuzvendra Chahal, they aren’t brimming with many quality attacking spin options.
Since the start of 2019, Chahal is averaging 27.16 for 62 wickets in ODIs, but his immediate back-up Kuldeep Yadav was taking his scalps at nearly 45 apiece before the South Africa series.
The paucity of 50-over spin options beyond those two could present India with a challenge similar to the one that faced the side back when they were entering the 2011 World Cup at home with a declining Harbhajan Singh as their lead tweaker.
That was a World Cup win built as much on Zaheer Khan’s incisiveness with the new and the old ball as it was on the triumph of Yuvraj Singh’s commitment and all-round brilliance and Sachin Tendulkar’s inimitable spirit with the bat. Come next winter, India may find themselves in a similar spot, needing someone desperately to be their ‘Zaheer Khan’.
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The obvious candidates to be such an all-phase hero would be Bumrah or Shami. But they’ll need a support cast that can stand on its own, providing them critical backup at the other end. Siraj’s aim should be to be that bowler for India, close out any window of opportunities for the opposition and pile on the pressure, forcing them to take risks for run-scoring at his end.
The home and away series against New Zealand in the coming months, the Asia Cup in Pakistan and the two ODI series versus Australia next year prior to the World Cup would provide for stiffer tests.
But if Siraj can continue on his merry ways earned out of playing a dual role in two challenging phases, his rise will allow India to prioritise using Bumrah and Shami in their strategically suited spots.
That would be a win-win scenario for the captain and the selectors, with Siraj increasingly proving to be an unexpected hero in bolstering India’s quest to regain the big World Cup prize next winter.
