By Trisha Ghosal in Birmingham
There’s something about silence before a storm. On Matchday minus two, in the quiet rhythm of a net session, Mohammed Siraj wasn’t just bowling, he was setting himself on fire. Every ball in the nets hissed with purpose. And now, here in the heat of Edgbaston, that fire was roaring.
Siraj had been living in Jasprit Bumrah’s vast shadow, serving as the tireless second fiddle, often effective but rarely game-defining. But with the leader of the pack absent, this Test was a question thrown at Siraj: If not now, then when? And the Hyderabad fast bowler answered like a man who had waited too long to step up.
He started with rhythm, stayed with discipline, and finished the spell with Crawley’s prized wicket. Seven overs, 21 runs, two maidens, and 35 dot balls, it was pressure delivered in small, silent doses, like water against rock. But what made this spell different wasn’t just the numbers, it was the intent. At Headingley, he leaked 23 runs in four overs. Here at Edgbaston, he was on the money from ball one.
There was no wayward drifting to the pads, no release balls. Just a stump-to-stump stranglehold and that relentless, nagging outside-off line. It was classic red-ball art, the kind that doesn’t scream but squeezes. Crawley, who looked set to take off, was pulled back by Siraj’s invisible leash, tied down until one jagged length finally caught him out.
Siraj, who has so often teased greatness in patches, two brilliant balls followed by two baffling ones, was finally consistent. He didn’t chase magic. He embraced the grind.
But make no mistake, this was just the first step. “My game” isn’t claimed in a spell. It’s earned across sessions, across days, across battles when the body aches and the pitch dies.
Siraj looked the part today. He roared, he ran, he led. But if he wants Edgbaston 2025 to be remembered as the moment he truly arrived—not as a supporting act but as a spearhead—he must walk back in tomorrow and bowl like today never ended.
The spotlight is his. Now he must burn in it.
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