Mohammed Siraj fails to conquer Sri Lankan conditions: The pacer, in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, disappoints

When Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the Sri Lanka Tests due to injury, it was inevitable India would struggle. Struggle in the sense that they were the higher-ranked side and were expected to win both contests in Galle and Colombo to breathe life into their World Test Championship (WTC) campaign. So, any result other than 2-0 wouldn’t exactly be a success.

And struggle they did. On the last day of the second and last Test in Colombo on Thursday, they failed to take the last four Sri Lankan wickets, and by the time the Lankans declared on 429/9 with a lead of 216 runs and less than an hour’s play left, both teams shook hands over a draw.

Also Read: Tough days ahead: How the Colombo Test draw has dented India’s chances for the WTC final

In the absence of Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj was expected to take the lead. Last year in England, every time Bumrah was rested for one reason or another, Siraj put his hand up and did the job expected of him. In the final Test at the Oval, his five-for, largely the reason behind India’s series levelling 2-2 win, was one of the best fast bowling performances in recent years. Those memories are still fresh in fans’ minds.

He was expected to do the same in Sri Lanka, but unfortunately, he was nowhere close to what he was in England. He bowled fewer overs across four innings and took just four wickets. Not completely his fault as the conditions in Sri Lanka largely favour the spinners but then, considering his experience and the big responsibility on his shoulders, he should have done better. Devdutt Padikkal said both the surfaces in Galle and Colombo were pretty much the same, although the latter appeared to have a little extra for fast bowlers, especially over the first three days, with Asitha Fernando and Prasidh Krishna doing well with the ball. Sadly for Siraj, he had not had a single such moment in the entire series. Captain Shubman Gill defended Siraj and dismissed a journalist’s enquiry about whether the Indian pacer was injured.

‘No, Siraj wasn't injured. When a person is playing after a long time, his last match was against Afghanistan, which was in June, so he was playing almost after a couple of months. It takes time to come back and find rhythm. In the first Test also, we felt the pace was slow but sometimes you have to play a lot before you can find your rhythm,” Gill said at the post-match press conference.

India really missed Bumrah in the final Test. His ability to come up with magical deliveries is second to none. He has turned the course of so many matches through his unplayable deliveries, even on the flattest of surfaces. A deadly yorker was particularly missed on the last day of the Colombo Test. In his defence, Siraj bowled tight, just that on wickets where fast bowlers toil more often than not, he failed to come up with those wicket-taking deliveries, and India paid a big price. To be able to reach the WTC final, they are now, kind of, in a must-win situation in the remaining seven games against New Zealand and Australia.