Mohammed Siraj Looking 'Inferior' Due To Jasprit Bumrah? Ex-India Star's Big 'Skill' Verdict
Aakash Chopra pointed out that Mohammed Siraj is an essential bowler for the national side but at times, his importance is overshadowed by the presence of Jasprit Bumrah.
- Aakash Chopra pointed out that Mohammed Siraj sometimes gets overshadowed by Jasprit Bumrah's presence
- "At times, when you are with Bumrah, you aren't noticed despite being skillful," Chopra said
- "That does not mean the guy is not good. He is skillful," the former Indian cricket team batter added
Former Indian cricket team batter Aakash Chopra pointed out that Mohammed Siraj is an essential bowler for the national side but at times, his importance is overshadowed by the presence of Jasprit Bumrah. Siraj is currently the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing Test series against England with one wicket more than Bumrah after three matches. Chopra said that Siraj's performances have been quite impressive in the recent past but due to the mode of dismissals as well as the sheer star power of Bumrah, it is easy for experts and fans to sometimes ignore his contributions.
"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."
"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," Chopra said on YouTube.
While there has been a lot of conversations regarding Bumrah's workload management, Siraj has bowled the highest number of overs by any India pacer since 2023. Chopra expressed his appreciation for Siraj's workrate and his consistency while bowling so many overs every match.
"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," Chopra said.
"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," he added.
Jasprit Bumrah
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team