Jasprit Bumrah's workload has been the talk of the town, with the ace pacer having bowled a marathon number of overs during India's away tours. He was stretched a bit too much during the Border-Gavaskar series, which led to his back picking up an injury again, which forced him to miss the Champions Trophy.
Bumrah's efforts also peak due to his bowling action and release point, which put him in danger of injury if he bowls too much. While Bumrah has bowled a large number of overs in Test cricket in recent times, Mohammed Siraj's workload and his marathon overs have often been in the shadow.
Since 2024, Bumrah has bowled the most number of overs by pacers: 453.4; however, Siraj is not much further behind, having thrown 423.3 overs during the same period. When India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate highlighted on managing Siraj's workload, the attention went to the hardyards that he has been putting in the Test matches, stating, "it is equally important to manage the workload of someone like Mohammed Siraj, who is always ready to bowl those extra overs, like Stokes did on day five at Lord's."
Meanwhile, Siraj has now opened up on his workload ahead of the fourth Test. "Upar waale ne mujhe sehatmand rakha hai. I want to make opportunities count and play as many games possible for the country (God has kept me healthy. I want to play as many matches as I can for the country)," Siraj said in a press conference on Monday, July 21.
Siraj confirms Bumrah will play 4th Test
Meanwhile, Siraj confirmed that his senior partner, Jasprit Bumrah, will be playing the fourth Test match. Bumrah was supposed to play in three of the five Tests due to his workload management. He has already played two and, according to the previously claimed, he shall play one of the next two.
On being asked whether Bumrah will be in the Playing XI for the Manchester Test, Siraj replied, "Boom (Bumrah) will play as far as I know."
Meanwhile, the pacer also reflected on the heartbreaking loss at Lord's, where, despite having put up a valiant effort by the lower-order, India suffered a 22-run loss. Siraj was the last batter to be dismissed after he defended a Shoaib Bashir ball that rolled back to his stumps. "I am very emotional. It could have been 2-1. Jaddu bhai fought so hard, but then I told myself the series isn't over & I will work on my batting. We've been working hard on our batting since the Australia tour, losing by 22 runs was heartbreaking," Siraj said in the press conference.
