The response was spectacular. Mohammed Siraj made one jag back from outside off and cut Rohit Sharma in half. The ball went through the gate and castled the Mumbai Indians opener. Forget Rohit’s indifferent form, the delivery probably would have accounted for a batter going through a purple patch even. Siraj was under pressure after conceding back-to-back fours in his previous two deliveries. He was expensive (0/54) in the first match he played for Gujarat Titans this season. A strong comeback was exactly what the fast bowler needed.
Ryan Rickelton’s dismissal a couple of overs later brought out the Siuu celebration, as Siraj finished the game with 2/34 from four overs. The next game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru was even better for him — 3/19, including a jaffa to Phil Salt that squared up the Englishman and sent his off stump for a walk.
Rewind to November 2024, when a demoralised Siraj, caught in no-man’s land, finally decided to dial B Arun. He was struggling across formats. In eight home Tests before the Australia tour, he had 12 wickets at an average of 44.16. He went wicketless in three
ODIs in 2024 and took only two wickets in six T20Is. Help from India’s new bowling coach, Morne Morkel, was apparently restricted to a pep talk: “You are a warrior, don’t worry.”
A technical course correction was needed, and Siraj turned to Arun, India’s ex-bowling coach who helped the quick find his feet in international cricket. The problem was diagnosed — “his wrist wasn’t behind the ball, his most crucial weapon”, as Arun would say later in an interview with The Indian Express. Before that, in a conversation with this correspondent during last year’s IPL, Arun had spoken about why Siraj needed to bowl fuller in Indian conditions.
Siraj showed signs of improvement in Australia, returning with 20 wickets from five Tests at an average of 31.15. But not getting picked for the Champions Trophy was another setback, with Rohit highlighting the fast bowler’s “ineffectiveness” with the old ball.
The ongoing IPL is very important for Siraj, as he aims to make a comeback to India’s white-ball fold. The T20 World Cup is scheduled early next year and before that, there’s the Asia Cup in September. He has made a bright start and is confident about getting better under Ashish Nehra’s (GT coach) guidance.
“I want to learn some things from him (Nehra) that I feel will improve me as a bowler,” Siraj told reporters before the start of the IPL.
There’s a stark contrast — Siraj under Arun or Nehra vis-à-vis Morkel. The latter is a Pakistan cricket discard — the PCB calling time on his stint as the bowling coach after Pakistan failed to qualify for the knockouts at the 2023 World Cup. But Gautam Gambhir worked with him for two seasons at Lucknow Super Giants and recommended his name after becoming India’s head coach. The Pakistan cricket fraternity, however, was never too convinced about Morkel’s ability.
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Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif didn’t summarily dismiss Morkel as a bowling coach. “He is a good coach, but with a different philosophy, which might not match with our philosophy,” Latif told RevSportz.
“But more than the coach, handling a bowler is basically a captain’s job. As for Siraj, he was brilliantly used by Virat (Kohli). And as I have been watching the IPL, I’m very impressed with the way Shubman has been handling his bowlers,” the former wicketkeeper added.
“Shubman is a very good captain, and he is a bowler’s captain,” Siraj recently said, speaking on Backstage with Boria.
All said and done, Siraj had some top-class performances under Rohit’s captaincy as well. He was very good as a third seamer at the 2023 World Cup, claiming 14 scalps from 11 matches, maintaining an economy rate of less than six runs per over.
It’s not known how Siraj gels with Morkel in the Indian team. Sometimes, communication can be a problem, as was the case for a young Suresh Raina while dealing with Greg Chappell’s assistant Ian Frazer. As regards Siraj, he looks more comfortable with Arun or Nehra by his side.
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