Siraj: From second fiddle to spiritual leader of Indian attack in England

Greg Chappell, for many the guru of cricket, is known to be frugal with praise for the modern-day cricketer. When he openly calls Mohammed Siraj someone who is ready to be the ‘spiritual as well as the actual leader’ of India’s Test attack — with or without Jasprit Bumrah — one knows the miyan from Hyderabad has finally come of age.    

Ever since he returned to a hero's welcome in Hyderabad two days back, the euphoria around the pace bowler has continued unabated with every move of his making headlines or going viral on social media. Such excitement around a bowler is unprecedented even in the Indian sub-continent, with its unrealistic craze for cricketers, more so in a series where batters exceeded all expectations with 11 centuries between them, and five crossing the 400 mark.

In his column for Cricinfo, Australian batting legend Chappell tried to put a marker on Siraj’s efforts about how the 31-year-old grew in stature throughout the series. It was purely a physical, mental and emotional marathon to send down 185 overs in five Tests over six weeks in an era when the buzz is about ‘workload management’, an effort which saw someone like Sunil Gavaskar calling out the term to be thrown out of the window.

Mohammed Siraj is among the India cricketers who have returned home following the end of their England tour.#Siraj #INDvsENG https://t.co/90LEOjfVdp

— News18 (@CNNnews18) August 6, 2025

Surely it could have been an emotional outburst from the legend, for not all could have shown the physical resilience for five Tests on the go as Siraj — thereby putting their bodies on the line. A stock response from Siraj to the question of playing non-stop would be about his ‘sense of pride’ in representing the country, but it is now up to the team management to use him discreetly in the coming months.

To borrow from Chappell again: ‘’What impressed me most wasn’t the effort which was immense — but the evolution. He started as a bowler with passion. He ended as a bowler with passion and purpose. That’s the difference between a player and a leader.

‘’I don’t think it is unfair to say that despite the many wonderful batting efforts, Siraj was the main reason that India was competitive in the series. To be fair, he has turned in many fine performances before, at the MCG, the Gabba, Perth, Lord’s, Cape Town and Birmingham, but what he did at The Oval was his true coming of age.

‘’With or without Bumrah, he is ready to be the spiritual as well as actual leader of Gill’s attack,’’ concluded Chappell. Nobody can dispute the choice of joint Player of the Series awards for Gill and Harry Brook, but the sense of drama that went hand-in-hand with Siraj’s performance was quite an experience.

Greg ChappellI don’t think it is unfair to say that despite the many wonderful batting efforts, Siraj was the main reason that India was competitive in the series. To be fair, he has turned in many fine performances before, at the MCG, the Gabba, Perth, Lord’s, Cape Town and Birmingham, but what he did at The Oval was his true coming of age

Be it breaking down after a stubborn resistance in the company of Ravindra Jadeja ended with a played-on dismissal at Lord’s, the disappointment writ large on his face after misjudging the boundary ropes on catching Brook early on to the trademark CR7 style celebrations after yorking Gus Atkinson for the final nail in England’s coffin —  there was never a dull moment with Siraj.

The journey of a rookie gangly fast bowler from Hyderabad — who provided grist for stories on how the son of an autorickshaw driver drew a bid for a million bucks in the IPL 2018 auction — to the trappings of stardom has not been easy.

If someone laid a hand on his shoulder in the initial years as a raw Siraj’s performance often bordered on the erratic, it was Virat Kohli during his long stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and then India. The leader in Kohli knew that irrespective of the stage, all he needed to get the best out of his miyan was to fire him up, and the later answered to the call as best as he could.

Workload? Never quite a problem for lionhearted pacer Mohammed Siraj

If it was Kohli’s manic fitness regime which motivated Siraj, he also drew from the sacrifices that senior pro Mohammed Shami made to make his comeback after a tryst with injury and personal problems.  “We all know about the fitness regime of Virat bhai, but the way Shami bhai has made a comeback, it is remarkable. He has become so lean and quick,” Siraj had said in an interview after his first international tour.

The story of how Siraj decided to stay back in Australia even on learning about the sudden death of his father Mirza Mohammed Ghaus, tearing up while listening to the national anthem during his debut Test, has been told many a time now. The story of an outlier, who grew up playing tennis ball cricket and once gave up on his favourite biryani to discipline himself, is a remarkable one of raw hunger, sacrifice and grit. Take a bow, Siraj and savour the moment…