LION KING, Mohd Siraj shows a big heart in a hard Test series against England
For romantic relics who still fancy more than a dalliance with Test cricket, this Test series between India and England for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy has provides its moments of thrills and spills. As the final Test at The Oval heads into a climactic fifth day (Monday), it becomes clear this series has generated hype and there has been a fair amount of exchanges, where the blows exchanged have been defining.
Indeed, for those who feel India rule the world of cricket, that is only from a financial aspect. The brouhaha over India agreeing to participate in the Asia Cup, an Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournament has caused great churning. For those who are still looking at the chilling pictures from the Pahalgam terror massacre and how India retaliated with crucial strikes in May at air bases in Pakistan, we had the terror state on their knees. Pakistan begged for mercy before Operation Sindoor was paused. More recently, there was a similar, smaller level operation (Operation Mahadev) to eliminate terrorists, some purportedly having been involved in the Pahalgam attack. In such a backdrop, where even the Amarnath Yatra has been paused due to a terror threat, playing cricket with Pakistan is pathetic. It shows there is no respect for emotions – dead or living.
What does this discourse have to do with an ongoing Test series involving India and England, one may well ask. Frankly speaking, cricket evokes passion and emotions, some even going back to the dark days when the British Raj over India was littered with tales of exploitation and misery. On the last day of a packed series between India and England, there are two possibilities on paper, England score 35 runs with four wickets in hand and seal the series 3-1. And, if India can clean up the last four wickets and win the match, a 2-2 draw will be fair reward for a side which is in transition phase.
For sure, there is a lot of learning from this series. That is, provided the Indian think-tank constructively uses inputs received by way of performance. At the same time, there has to be a logical explanation for some ‘tourists’ who have been taken to England, which includes Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Abhimanyu Easwaran. Plus, of course, Sarfaraz Khan. You cannot have a long series where some players are not even given one chance, more so when there have been major fitness issues.
Agreed, in seasoned star Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, India has found genuine all-rounders who can excel in the long format. Viewed dispassionately, a lot more could have been done, which has to do with how the new captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir ideate and plan. Gill the batter has proved himself but Gill the skipper is still far behind in terms of leadership. There have been many moments in this series where fans and experts are already saying, if the captain had been a Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, they would have driven in the stiletto quietly. The number of chances blown are huge, and a lot of it has to do with the way Gill used, or failed to use the bowling attack judiciously.
If one man stands tall and still looks like the warrior ready to hurl the red cherry, it has to be Mohd Siraj. The more one watches Siraj in action, the more one is certain he is the beacon, he is the ray of hope. It is certain, now, Jasprit Bumrah is not a 100 per cent fit, though the intrigue, or veil of secrecy continues to hang. He is no longer fit for five Tests and if conserving him has to be the formula, Test cricket may not be the recipe for him when it comes to five Tests. Bumrah still has the fire, not in terms of pace, but being a sharp brain to bamboozle batters for a three-Test series or the T20 internationals and ODIs.
If one has to make a profound statement, this series has been sensational, nay a revelation, for what Siraj has done. He has led by example and set a benchmark as someone being selfless and ready to bowl. Siraj the fast bowler has lasted the full course of the series. That is massive and shows he is there a 100 per cent. To say that Siraj is fearless would be stating the obvious. Gill the captain is lucky he has the services of this Hyderabadi who has been a team man to the core.
For those who need stats to define the kind of workload he has been subjected to, it has been heavy duty. Siraj has so far bowled over 155 overs in the current series against England. Against Australia, in the Border Gavaskar Trophy Series, he bowled 157 overs. He has taken wickets, though he has come in for flak on Sunday, an incident of overstepping the boundary line while taking a catch of Harry Brook, when Prasidh Krishna was bowling. TV replays led to a furore from social media trolls.
That, however, should not paint Mohd Siraj as a villain. Try and do 50 per cent of what he has put in as effort for India on the field in a long series, you will realise Test cricket is hard stuff. One error does not mean pronouncing a ‘death sentence.’
