In the final of Duleep Trophy, East Zone’s first innings ended at 708 runs against South Zone. In this huge innings of East Zone Ishaan Kishan Played a brilliant inning of 270 runs, while Kumar Kushagra also scored 101 runs. The match may have been memorable for the batsmen, but during this innings, the bowling of Indian fast bowler Mohammad Siraj attracted the attention of cricket fans and analysts.
While bowling for South Zone, Siraj could not take even a single wicket despite bowling 25 overs. He bowled two maiden overs and spent a total of 140 runs. His economy was 5.60, which was the highest among all the bowlers of South Zone. Although the complete form of a bowler cannot be decided from one match of domestic cricket, but the discussion on social media definitely intensified regarding the speed of Siraj’s balls.
Most discussed about speed
The biggest reason for questions being raised on Siraj’s bowling is his speed. Some users on social media, while comparing the bowling speed of his recent matches, claimed that while earlier Siraj was seen consistently bowling at a speed of around 138-140 kilometers per hour, in the Sri Lanka series and Duleep Trophy, many of his balls have been around 128-130 kilometers per hour. That means the question is not just about not getting wickets, but whether Siraj is able to bowl at his full speed at this time?
However, injury cannot be confirmed based on speed data alone. Bowling speed can be affected by many factors like fatigue, pitch, run-up, conditions, bowling strategy and workload. Therefore, it would be too early to say that Siraj’s reduced speed is due to some injury.
Such a picture was also seen in the Sri Lanka series
Concern about Siraj’s current condition has also increased because even during the Sri Lanka tour, questions were raised about his speed and impact. In that series he took only 4 wickets. After this, Siraj kept bowling long spells in the Duleep Trophy final also, but he did not get success. In such a situation, some cricket analysts believe that Siraj should have been given rest and recovery time instead of playing continuously.
Former selector Devang Gandhi has also emphasized on the use of experience in the current phase of Siraj. According to him, when the speed of a fast bowler decreases a bit then just throwing fast balls is not the way to go. At such times, line, length, seam movement and the art of setting the batsman become more important. Gandhi mentioned similar bowling understanding by giving the example of experienced bowler Mohammed Shami.
Is workload becoming the real question?
The biggest concern of social media and some cricket analysts regarding Siraj is regarding workload management. After seeing him playing in the Duleep Trophy final after the Sri Lanka series, some people raised the question whether he could have been rested from this match. Especially when recovery is very important for a fast bowler after continuous Test cricket and long spells.
In the same debate, some people also raised the question that a batsman like KL Rahul could have been played in place of Siraj in the Duleep Trophy final, because Rahul’s next assignment is the ODI series to be held at the end of the month. Although this is an opinion related to selection and workload management, there is no official decision or confirmation of the injury. This is the reason why the debate regarding Siraj’s bowling is no longer limited to just one match. The question is whether the team management is handling the workload of fast bowlers properly?
15 year old Vaibhav Suryavanshi also made strong shots
During the Duleep Trophy final, Siraj was also in the news when 15-year-old East Zone batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 14 runs in one of his overs. Vaibhav hit 2 fours and a six in that over. A young batsman batting aggressively against an experienced international fast bowler was certainly one of the most talked about moments of the match.
However, just one over cannot be considered a measure of Siraj’s current form. A bad over in cricket can happen to any bowler, but when there is already discussion going on about pace and workload, then such an over gives further fuel to the debate on social media.
Siraj and Ishaan Kishan’s funny conversation also goes viral
During the match, a funny conversation was also seen between Siraj and Ishan Kishan. In the viral conversation, Tilak Verma jokingly told Siraj that he has been playing for a long time and now he should stop.
After this, there was a funny conversation between Siraj and Ishaan. Siraj asked Ishaan to go on the field and field, while Ishaan jokingly referred to Siraj’s previous bowling and said that he had bowled a lot of bouncers and now it was his turn to field.
This conversation between the two shows the light-hearted atmosphere between the players and that is why its video was also liked by the people on social media.
Does Siraj really need rest?
This is the biggest question of this entire story. At present, it can definitely be said that Siraj was not seen in his usual impressive bowling rhythm. 140 runs in 25 overs and not getting any wicket was definitely not a good performance for them. But it would not be right to directly link his reduced speed to injury. For this, official information from the team management or medical team will be necessary.
Siraj has been an important fast bowler in India’s Test and ODI setup. In such a situation, the questions arising regarding their workload cannot be ignored. In the case of fast bowlers, even small fatigue can become a big problem in the future.
His performance in the Duleep Trophy final is also in the news because it is not just the story of a bad spell, but the story of a fast bowler who is constantly being discussed about his pace, rhythm and workload. Now it remains to be seen whether Siraj is able to make a comeback with his old pace and edge in the upcoming matches or the team management decides to refresh him by giving him some rest.