Why Mohammed Siraj is a Worst Test Pacer than these All-Rounders
In the absence of Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj is considered India’s most experienced and is also given the responsibility to lead the pace attack. But his numbers tell a completely different story about his stature in the test format. His numbers look decent, but not like a standard red-ball bowler should have.
In test cricket, Mohammed Siraj averages near 32, and his strike rate is nearly 54, which means he takes a wicket with the red ball in every 9th over of his spell. Additionally, he is also recognized for some of his notable spells, such as his debut spell at MCG on the occasion of the Boxing Day test match during the 2020 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, twin 4-wicket hauls at Lord’s during the 2021 India vs England Pataudi Trophy, and the one with a historic 6-wicket spell in Cape Town during the India tour in January 2024.
There is no doubt that whenever conditions favored him, he led from the front, but due to this observation, Siraj’s skill set has looked a bit restrained. Have a look at Siraj’s red-ball stats when categorized into Home and Away separately.
His home stats don’t look good as per the expectations from him, with the average of over 40 and the strike rate going over 66. Indian conditions do not offer that much assistance to the pacers, but still, on these pitches only, these players have grinded and made it to the top level. Away stats look slightly better, but do not match the standards of a good red-ball bowler.
Mohammed Siraj vs Shardul Thakur and Ben Stokes
The comparison does not make sense, but it was found that the bowling numbers of a few part-timers who participated in this Anderson-Tendulkar test series looked similar or slightly better compared to the front-line bowler, Mohammed Siraj. Ben Stokes and Shardul Thakur are the ones who both average better than Siraj in the test format, and Shardul Thakur is the one who also has an edge over strike-rate as compared to Siraj’s strike-rate in the Test format.
In Tests, the main focus on the strike rate is to identify how many deliveries a bowler bowls to obtain a wicket. For better understanding, let’s take Siraj’s strike rate in home venues, which is nearly 66, which means Siraj bowls at least 11 to 12 overs to obtain a wicket in a home test because of fewer assistants to the pacers, but in Away venues, it is around 51, which gets better by nearly 25% due to slightly pacer friendly conditions.
