AHMEDABAD: The last time Mohammad Siraj turned out in India creams, he delivered a near virtuoso spell to help the visitors to a bum-clenching final day win at The Oval over England on a gloomy August morning.
Since that day in London, Siraj has seen his national team-mates either win the Asia Cup or turn out for various sides in the Duleep Trophy. It didn't come as any surprise when the pacer didn't feature in the UAE. He had played in the T20 World Cup in 2024 but his presence in the shortest form had always come with a caveat. So, there was just a shrug when the likes of Arshdeep Singh were preferred.
In the longest format though, the Hyderabadi pacer remains the go-to option as long as you discount Jasprit Bumrah. After turning out for the India 'A' side against a visiting Australian outfit in Lucknow, Siraj was back at it against West Indies on Thursday morning.
There's something arresting about watching Siraj, his readily identifiable golden retriever energy masking his other attributes. Give him the new ball and he can extract movement challenging both edges irrespective of the batting type. He will pitch the ball up and the opposition will likely score a few boundaries but the good thing about him is he will not shirk from doing what is asked of him.
He can be a bit of a goldilocks bowler — the conditions needing to create a perfect storm — but that's kind of missing the point. It's all part of the Siraj experience. On Thursday morning and afternoon, sandwiched by the break for lunch, the sparse holiday crowd were treated to the full Siraj adventure.
Deliveries jagging away off the seam, balls taking both edges, plays and misses and, yes, some overpitched ones being driven down the ground.
Bumrah may have opened proceedings with the new ball but it was Siraj's triple burst in his first spell that put the hosts in the driving seat after they lost the toss on a morning with some forecast of rain.
If his first wicket was a bit of a nothing short to a regulation ball — a leg-side strangle — there was nothing fluky about the nature of his second wicket. Brandon King, a soul of a white-ball batter trapped in red-ball gear, had already hit the seamer for two fours, including one very stylist cut in front of square.
The 31-year-old, a lot of experience under his belt these days, had already switched to wobble seam to try and switch it up. He kept bringing the ball back as he tried to target King's loose defences. One wobble seam ball pitched on length, came back a fraction before removing the middle peg.
Minutes later, he had accounted for Alick Athanaze as well, an outside edge pouched by second slip.
He was so on point Shubman Gill kept him on unchanged even post the drinks break before his opening spell came to a close with figures of 7-3-19-3. He doesn't outbowl Bumrah on a lot of occasions but whenever he does, he makes it an occasion to remember. This was one such occasion.
His fourth wicket, coming just after lunch, woke people up from their siesta on a day when the sun played hide and seek with the clouds. After a succession of in-dippers, another wobble delivery from Siraj got one to move away from Roston Chase after pitching on length. It squared the visiting captain but not before a healthy outside edge.
It's kind of why three Indian captains, as many coaches and multiple selection committee panels have continued to keep the faith in him even though fans have questioned his place in the side. And he's beginning to repose the faith shown in him on a more consistent basis.
Since the start of 2024, he's the Indian bowler with most overs (514), matches (20) and the second highest wicket-taker (66).
Both Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav belatedly entered the wickets column but that didn't stop Siraj from claiming an innings best on Indian soil: 4/40 across 14 overs.
