Siraj — swinging back into India’s T20 blueprint Premium

Siraj — swinging back into India’s T20 blueprint

Mohammed Siraj is a massive fan of Cristiano Ronaldo. And therefore, by extension, of Portugal and Real Madrid, even though the Portuguese great has since taken his wares to Saudi Arabia. Such is the inspiration he draws from his ‘hero’ that the wallpaper on his cell phone is a photograph of Ronaldo, his back to the camera, right hand outstretched and the index finger shooting skywards, with the word ‘BELIEVE.’ inscribed overhead.

Because of his continued admiration for Real Madrid, the lion-hearted Hyderabadi had decided to give himself an early birthday present by making a trip to Spain later this week to soak in the Spanish giants locking horns with Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu next Sunday. Siraj turns 32 on March 13; he has had a long season entailing four Tests at home against West Indies and South Africa, six One-Day Internationals in Australia and at home against New Zealand, and a slew of matches for his home state in domestic cricket. Last month, he was named the captain of the Ranji Trophy team for the matches against Chhattisgarh and Mumbai, where he bowled a combined 61 overs. Siraj needed a break, to recharge and refresh before resuming training and preparation for the Indian Premier League, where he will turn up for Gujarat Titans, led by India’s Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill.

Siraj has been pigeonholed as a longer format bowler, which is why while he has 45 Test appearances and 50 ODI caps, he had played only 16 Twenty20 Internationals between his debut in November 2017 and the tour of Sri Lanka in July 2024. It was after that Sri Lanka sojourn, which India swept 3-0, that preparations for the 2026 World Cup began in all seriousness. Gautam Gambhir, in his first days as the new head coach, worked out a blueprint for the future with skipper Suryakumar Yadav and chief selector Ajit Agarkar. That blueprint didn’t involve Siraj, much to the disappointment of the Hyderabadi who had started the previous World Cup in 2024, playing all three matches in New York before making way for left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav when the tournament moved entirely to the Caribbean from the Super Eights onwards.

It took Siraj a little while to reconcile to the fact that he was no longer in the T20I scheme of things. The wait for a call-up to the 20-over side spilled over from one series to another, from one month to the next, before he came to grips with the realisation that his time in the format had passed him by when it came to the country vs country battles. India started to place massive emphasis on multi-skilled players; there were a fair few specialist pacers in the mix, but Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh were indispensable and Harshit Rana was the preferred choice because of his ability to wield the long handle. Siraj, therefore, could only watch on balefully, ruing his luck but wishing his mates well.

That’s something which comes naturally to the affable, ever-smiling performer who has perennially had to perform under the massive shadow of Bumrah – backing his buddies. Even when he picked up 20 wickets in five Tests in Australia in 2024-25, he was deemed somewhat of a ‘failure’ because of Bumrah’s towering presence. It needed England, and last summer when he picked up 23 wickets in the five matches, culminating in a dramatic series-levelling victory at the Oval in the final Test, for Siraj to be hailed as the champion he is. Within the dressing room, he has always been popular and immensely respected for his never-say-die spirit and the heart of a warrior, and while that is what most team-sports representatives aspire for, it must have hurt at some level that he wasn’t the popular choice for celebration among the teeming masses that go by sheer numbers.

Siraj had completed all the formalities required to travel to Madrid when, without warning, he got a call from Suryakumar, asking him to be ready to fly out to Mumbai to join the national team ahead of their World Cup opener against United States. In an unfortunate twist of fate, Harshit tweaked his right knee in the practice game against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday night. The injury was serious enough to rule him out of the entire tournament. India didn’t have much time to summon a replacement but once it was obvious that Harshit was hors de combat, Siraj became the obvious contender to step in because of his spunk and his experience, even though he had been disassociated from the format at the top level for a year and a half.