Siraj's form augurs well for spearhead's role in England

With Bumrah likely to play only three Tests, Siraj may find himself leading the pace attack at times

- Sanjeev K Samyal

MUMBAI: In his debut series in 2020-21, Mohammed Siraj finished with 13 wickets to play a starring role in India's unlikely series win in Australia. A few months later, he returned from England with 18 scalps in five Tests. He had to wait until 2024-25 for his next double-digit series haul (20 in five Tests in Australia).

For a promising pacer who started Test cricket in the fast lane in Australia, leading the attack in just his third Test with a five-wicket haul to earn his team a memorable victory, Siraj's career has yet to hit top gear. The 31-year-old will be an important cog in India's bowling attack in the five-Test series in England, especially since lead bowler Jasprit Bumrah might be rotated and rested to manage workload.

The Hyderabad pace bowler was in excellent rhythm in the Indian Premier League and it has raised expectations of a fine showing. The feature of his impressive showing in IPL for Gujarat Titans was the way he was extracting sharp movement with the new ball. In England, the conditions will be perfect for swing bowlers.

"Everyone I know has a lot of expectations from Bumrah but you need someone else to shoulder that responsibility as well. That has to be Siraj. He is the senior (most) after Bumrah, he has played a lot of cricket. Not only him, you need others to shoulder the responsibility as well," says former India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey. "You expect your frontline bowlers to be in the best of rhythm. From what I have seen is that Siraj and Bumrah, the way they have gone about in terms of IPL, is very heartening.

"He (Siraj) has excellent prospects. It's heartening simply for the fact that you need experience. The couple of guys who have toured England and have the experience are Bumrah and him."