Md Siraj: From Ashes to Phoenix

[Rightarmfast]

The one big positive from the Aussie series has been the rise of Md Siraj. Having played the second fiddle for a long time, Siraj has rightfully snatched the title of being one of the most exciting prospects from India. What has been most impressive is his readiness to the occasion, aggression and being 2 steps ahead of the batsmen. One would have hardly witnessed such a thinking bowler playing his first big series, yet outthinking established batsmen. Here’s my 2 pence on Md Siraj-

 

Bowling action:

Simple, minimal and effortless. Smooth athletic run-up without any fuss, and an equally economical release. Being the smart cookie that he is, Siraj hides the ball till the last moment prior to release thus not letting the batsmen know which way the ball is going to swing. This action might give a visual perception that he doesn’t have a pure round-arm action. A slight fall to the left ensures the pace that he generates.

Physically, Siraj looks a natural athlete with a strong lower and lean upper body. Someone who has a linear distribution of strength to generate the pace that he does.

 

Bowling Style:

On a personal level, Siraj reminds me a tad of Ishant Sharma in his approach, and a young Javagal Srinath. What is different though, he doesn’t bowl short like his predecessors did initially.

Surprisingly, he seems to have been at his aggressive best during the 2016/17 season where almost 50% of his dismissals were through hitting the stumps of batsmen. That’s almost 8% more than Ray Lindwall, who has the highest percentage of wickets through clean bowled at 42.54%. Obviously, I am only considering one single first class tourney to Lindwall’s whole career, but the fact can’t be overlooked.

If we look closely, 7 of those wickets are lbw, 8 caught by keeper and 1 c&b! That’s 88% of his wickets where he has made the batsmen play. It’s a staggering no and goes on to show his aggressive intent.

 

In the Aussie series, he did not manage to hit the stumps. This could be attributed to the fact that the Indian thinktank took a leg side line for bowlers. Also the fact that it was his first big series!

But even then, 9 out of the 13 dismissals are either caught by keeper or at slip cordon. That’s almost 70% of his wickets. Thereby, affirming the fact he is almost always at the batsmen. And this is a great sign. Siraj’s aggression means that in the times to come he can naturally be moulded as the spearhead of the attack.

The only complain some fans may have would be his speed which hovered around 135-140’ish. Only time can tell if Siraj would work on his pace.

 

What's in store?

The way I see it, Siraj is a long term investment. I am led to believe he will prove to be one of the best fast bowlers that India has seen. Early days to make such bold statements, but what the heck! Its going to be interesting if he fulfils the standard he has set for himself but one thing is for sure, Indian fast bowling fans are going to have a ball in the years to come!

[Lone Wolf]

I have big hopes from him on Eng tour.  His modes of dismissal is perfect for those conditions.  Shami,  Yadav attack stumps & look average in English conditions.  Siraj would be perfect guy to partner with Bumrah & Ishant. 

[Majestic]

Same for Pant too: From Ashes to pheonix! 

[Vk1]

Siraj bowled an excellent length on aussie pitches and seemed to do that effortlessly. Interesting to see how he bowls at home and in other conditions.

[Rightarmfast]

2 minutes ago, Vk1 said:

Siraj bowled an excellent length on aussie pitches and seemed to do that effortlessly. Interesting to see how he bowls at home and in other conditions.

From what we have seen in domestic cricket, I am assuming he should hit the right length. It’s going to be a mouth watering affair, nonetheless! 

[Suhaan]

I know it is easy to go full throttle in a 2 over spell in t20s but ipl2018,19 Siraj was bowling at lively pace operating 145+ on many occasions,but was struggling to reach 142+ in 2020

Even if he bowls 140+ /138+<145  in tests in his prime (which im sure current one),he should be doing well going forward,he should work hard on his fitness to gain more strength to sustain that amount of pace in longer format,he seemed to fizzle out in some spells apart from that he did quite well in Australia and should applauded for his spectacular performance

[express bowling]

Siraj's biggest plus is that he understands where to bowl, to take wickets.

 

His only issue can be ... whether he has the pace to hurry batsmen on slower surfaces  ... and we play most of our test cricket on such surfaces.

 

Siraj looked good on the faster pitches of Brisbane and Melbourne.  But lacked penetration on the slower surface in Sydney. 

 

During 2017 and 2018 ... Siraj's golden years at A-team level ... he used to pick a lot of wickets via bowleds and LBWs. And this is because he used to bowl much quicker and targeted the stumps. He touched 149.9 kph during IPL 2018 and was an out and out quick bowler.

 

I want Siraj to rediscover his pace of 2017 and 2018.

[Nikhil_cric]

What was most disappointing from the Indian pace attack was the lack of pace itself. Siraj was , at times , absolutely trundling and Bumrah, might never again hit the highs of last tour. 

 

What was most impressive was the pace attacks accuracy and the ability to keep the ball moving and bowl to a plan most of the time. 

 

 

[Soldier]

4 minutes ago, Nikhil_cric said:

What was most disappointing from the Indian pace attack was the lack of pace itself. Siraj was , at times , absolutely trundling and Bumrah, might never again hit the highs of last tour. 

 

What was most impressive was the pace attacks accuracy and the ability to keep the ball moving and bowl to a plan most of the time. 

 

 

I think pace drops generally when the accuracy is pinpoint. 

 

Burmah was brilliant in this tour too but he was under prepared due to covid. Plenty of chances were dropped of bumrah. He would have had way more wickets easily. 

[Rightarmfast]

50 minutes ago, express bowling said:

Siraj's biggest plus is that he understands where to bowl, to take wickets.

 

His only issue can be ... whether he has the pace to hurry batsmen on slower surfaces  ... and we play most of our test cricket on such surfaces.

 

Siraj looked good on the faster pitches of Brisbane and Melbourne.  But lacked penetration on the slower surface in Sydney. 

 

During 2017 and 2018 ... Siraj's golden years at A-team level ... he used to pick a lot of wickets via bowleds and LBWs. And this is because he used to bowl much quicker and targeted the stumps. He touched 149.9 kph during IPL 2018 and was an out and out quick bowler.

 

I want Siraj to rediscover his pace of 2017 and 2018.

I feel the bowled and lbw decisions could be more because of his attacking the stumps consistently. Extra pace certainly would be an advantage. 

[express bowling]

5 hours ago, Nikhil_cric said:

What was most disappointing from the Indian pace attack was the lack of pace itself. Siraj was , at times , absolutely trundling and Bumrah, might never again hit the highs of last tour. 

 

What was most impressive was the pace attacks accuracy and the ability to keep the ball moving and bowl to a plan most of the time. 

 

 

 

 

Bumrah bowled quick enough In 9 of the 11 innings of this tour. He was injured in the 3rd tests 2nd innings, so pace was less.

 

In his quicker spells of this tour, almost all his deliveries were 140 k+ while the quickest balls were 145 k to 148 k.

 

Umesh was consistently 137 k to 146 k too.

 

Most of our cricketers could not practice for 4 or 5 months last year and this has taken a toll on their fitness and pace. While in Australia, the situation was much better and their cricketers could practice.

 

As our players play more, they will get fitter and quicker.

 

Edited February 2, 2021 by express bowling

[Suhaan]

2 hours ago, Nikhil_cric said:

What was most disappointing from the Indian pace attack was the lack of pace itself. Siraj was , at times , absolutely trundling and Bumrah, might never again hit the highs of last tour. 

 

What was most impressive was the pace attacks accuracy and the ability to keep the ball moving and bowl to a plan most of the time. 

 

 

Bumrah was quick ,even in odis he bowled quick

He struggled once he got injured

He should never hve played odis in first place

[Rightarmfast]

32 minutes ago, Suhaan said:

Bumrah was quick ,even in odis he bowled quick

He struggled once he got injured

He should never hve played odis in first place

And I wouldnt want to play Bumrah against England in the whole series. Exactly for that reason. Perhaps a match or two, none more than that. There are enough talents to be used when playing in India.

[MCcricket]

Siraj had good qualities, skills, ability to plan a batsmen's dismissal which is critical, for him to be successful in the longer run and not be a Munaf Patel he needs to bowl at higher pace. I would like for him to bowl at 138 to 148 range , right now he is not the first choice pacer for me. Bumrah, Shami and Ishant are ahead also Aussie tracks were pace friendly and you need to be pacier to be successful in Asia and to use reverse 

[putrevus]

Siraj if he had 10k more avg speed would have become a great bowler. He already has every other ingredient to become a great fast bowler. They better use him as much as possible in next few years.

[gakgupta]

22 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

I have big hopes from him on Eng tour.  His modes of dismissal is perfect for those conditions.  Shami,  Yadav attack stumps & look average in English conditions.  Siraj would be perfect guy to partner with Bumrah & Ishant. 

Was he on India A tour to England?

If so..how was his performance?

[gakgupta]

8 hours ago, putrevus said:

Siraj if he had 10k more avg speed would have become a great bowler. He already has every other ingredient to become a great fast bowler. They better use him as much as possible in next few years.

I give a **** about pace...

 

Yes...skill with pace is useful...but just pace is useless

 

Look at starc...he was consistently hitting 145+ but was far less effective then siraj..

 

Siraj is a very intelligent bowler who is mighty skillful...

 

"Reverse swing", "conventional swing".."setting up the batsmen"..."using the crease well"...."seam"...he has every damn skill a bowler should have....

 

Look at Broad...he is more effective than ...lets say wood... but who bowls around 135ish

 

If he can improve the pace without loosing his line and length...i am fine with it...but not at the cost of his body (pathan and bhuvi lost their career in quest for the pace) 

 

 

[gakgupta]

21 hours ago, express bowling said:

Siraj's biggest plus is that he understands where to bowl, to take wickets.

 

His only issue can be ... whether he has the pace to hurry batsmen on slower surfaces  ... and we play most of our test cricket on such surfaces.

 

Siraj looked good on the faster pitches of Brisbane and Melbourne.  But lacked penetration on the slower surface in Sydney. 

 

During 2017 and 2018 ... Siraj's golden years at A-team level ... he used to pick a lot of wickets via bowleds and LBWs. And this is because he used to bowl much quicker and targeted the stumps. He touched 149.9 kph during IPL 2018 and was an out and out quick bowler.

 

I want Siraj to rediscover his pace of 2017 and 2018.

During that time...he was really inconsistent with line and length...

He sacrificed pace for line & length

[express bowling]

9 hours ago, putrevus said:

Siraj if he had 10k more avg speed would have become a great bowler. He already has every other ingredient to become a great fast bowler. They better use him as much as possible in next few years.

 

 

Siraj has bowled 130 k to 141 k most of the time in Australia. Average speed of around 135 k.

 

A speed of 135 k to 145 k ... average speed of 138 k +, would be acceptable.

 

[express bowling]

25 minutes ago, gakgupta said:

During that time...he was really inconsistent with line and length...

He sacrificed pace for line & length

 

 

Siraj was never inconsistent with line and length in 4 day or 5 day matches.

 

And a top pacer needs to combine pace and bounce with accuracy.

 

Sacrificing one for the other is not good.

Edited February 3, 2021 by express bowling