Surprising figures about Mohammed Siraj's bowling workload following Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Jan 05, 2025
New Delhi [India], January 5 : Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah delivered an all-timer Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) campaign with 32 scalps in five matches at an average of 13.06 with three five-wicket hauls. The bowler had a capable partner in pacer Mohammed Siraj, who toiled really hard for his wickets during the series and showcased an aggressive attitude fitting of a pacer.
Siraj ended the series with 20 wickets at an average of 31.15, with the best bowling figures of 4/98. He ended up as India's second-highest wicket-taker and overall fourth among all bowlers.
Siraj also bowled a total of 157.1 overs, the highest amount of overs by an Indian bowler, next to pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (151.2 overs), who missed out on bowling during the final inning of the Test due to back spam. However, Australian skipper Pat Cummins bowled maximum overs (167.0 in these five games), ending up as the second-highest wicket-taker with 25 wickets at an average of 21.36, with a five-wicket haul to his name.
While talks of Bumrah's excessive workload and overdependency, and Siraj's inconsistency have been talked about a lot, there has not been much attention paid to Siraj's workload since the start of 2023. Since the start of that year, Siraj has featured in 57 matches for India, taking 104 wickets at an average of 27.89 with the best figures of 6/15 and three five-wicket hauls. He has bowled 683.5 overs from then till now, the highest by an Indian pacer. The highest amount of overs have been bowled by spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, delivering 830 overs across 56 matches and taking 115 wickets.
Bumrah from 2023 till now, bowled 560.1 overs, second-highest by an Indian pacer during the time phase and overall fourth, in 42 matches. He has also taken 124 wickets at an average of 15.26, with best figures of 6/45 and five five-wicket hauls.
The third-highest amount of overs delivered by a pacer are by Mohammed Shami, who delivered 247.3 overs in 23 matches from 2023-start onwards, with best figures of 7/57 and four five-wicket hauls.
During this period, India played 111 matches across all formats. While Siraj has missed half the matches owing to workload management, his workload has still been pretty high.
Will Siraj silence his critics and deliver some career-defining performances this year? Only time will tell.
