He may not have won official player of the series honours, but it wouldn’t be unfair to argue that Mohammed Siraj was the heart and soul of India’s tour of England this summer.
While there has been plenty of credit given to his skill and his passion combining to create a top-level bowler, one other element might have gone under the radar: his fitness and his endurance to play all five Test matches, and keep bowling to the top of his level on the very last day of a 25-day series.
When it came to deciding that Siraj would play all five Test matches – a rarity for any seam bowler – it wasn’t a call made in haste or on the spot. Instead, it was a plan that was in place as early as February, when Siraj wasn’t included in the ICC Champions Trophy squad. At that moment, a long-term plan began for Siraj to be ready to carry the seam-bowling burden in England this summer.
Soham Desai, India’s former strength-and-conditioning trainer who parted ways with the men’s team just before that Champions Trophy, revealed as much while making an appearance on Ravichandran Ashwin’s Youtube channel.
“Siraj played five Tests. He didn’t land in London and plan that he would play five Tests,” said Desai. “When he was not picked for the Champions Trophy, the conversation took place then itself.”
‘When you win in England…
Desai explained that it was a combination of physical training and mental readiness, to see the silver lining of not being included for the Champions Trophy. Known as an emotional player, it was about helping Siraj recognise the opportunity that presented itself within the disappointment of missing out on what proved to be an ICC trophy for India.
“Today it may feel like a setback but when you win in England, then you will remember you started training from then so you could play five,” Desai recalls telling Siraj. The fast bowler went on to finish as the highest wicket-taker of the series with 23 scalps across the five matches, including an inspired spell on the last day of the Oval Test to win a famous Test match for India.
Siraj once again is out of the picture for India’s white-ball team at the Asia Cup, but given the evidence of this summer, the expectation can only be to see Siraj return as a faster, stronger, better bowler when he next wears the Indian crest on his shirt.