Aakash Chopra, a former player for India, has emphasized Mohammed Siraj’s significance to the Indian squad in recent years. He noted that over the past two years, the Hyderabad seamer has bowled more overs than any other Indian pacer in all formats.
India trails England 2-1 in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, with the fourth Test of the five-match series set to begin in Manchester on Wednesday, July 23. Siraj has taken the most wickets on both sides in the first three Test matches, taking 13 at an average of 32.00 in six innings.
The former India opener stated in a video posted to his YouTube channel, “Aakash Chopra,” that Mohammed Siraj is only trailing Ravindra Jadeja in terms of the total amount of overs thrown by an Indian bowler across all forms since the start of 2023.
“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.”
Aakash Chopra
“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 1000 overs, and he has also bowled close to 800. He bowls a lot of overs.”
Aakash Chopra
Chopra emphasized that the Indian team management recognizes how fortunate they are to have Siraj on their side.
“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.”
Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra stated that Mohammed Siraj’s tenacity makes him a very remarkable bowler. Such bowlers end up being the captain’s favorite, he said, adding that Siraj, who is affectionately known as “Miyan Magic,” reminds him of Ishant Sharma.
Aakash Chopra explains why Mohammed Siraj may appear overshadowed alongside Jasprit Bumrah
In the same video, Aakash Chopra stated that Mohammed Siraj is sometimes overshadowed by Jasprit Bumrah, implying that other batters were not given enough credit when playing with Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.
“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.”
Aakash Chopra
Giving an example of the dropped catch of KL Rahul of Jamie Smith during the Lord Test, the cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that occasionally, the cricketer was not spared even by the Indian fielders.
“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.”
Aakash Chopra
In conclusion, Aakash Chopra praised Mohammed Siraj on how the seamer is hardworking when he was removed in the India 2025 Champions Trophy team, something that he has never regretted since his comeback into the team. The analyst added he has never ever seen Siraj bowl below 100 percent shots regardless of game situation and conditions and described the 31-year-old as a workhorse and a warhorse.
