Esqueça Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill pode gerenciar a carga de trabalho de Mohammed Siraj durante os testes IND vs ENG?

Even before the India vs England series began, Jasprit Bumrah’s workload was a huge talking point. The Indian spearhead underwent a back surgery after playing all 5 Tests in Australia only returning to action mid IPL. As such, it was decided that Bumrah would only play only 3 tests in the IND vs ENG series. And while all the focus is naturally on Bumrah, spare a thought for Mohammed Siraj, who’s likely to be thrust as the leader in Jasprit’s absence.

Mohammed Siraj’s workload a cause for concern?

Jasprit Bumrah played the 1st Test Headingley, meaning he’d play only 2 of the remaining 4 games in the India vs England series. In Bumrah’s absence, Mohammed Siraj becomes the de-facto pace attack leader. This comes after he has to play a supporting role to Bumrah in the games the spearhead features. In all likeliness, Siraj will feature in all 5 Tests fitness permitting, which makes a case for his workload management.

He bowled 41 overs in the 1st Test, the second most behind Bumrah’s 43.4. He picked up just 2 wickets, despite largeky improving his line and length in the second innings. The 31-year-old is no stranger to being the leader of the pack, having done so in Bumrah’s absence in his debut series in Australia.

Siraj has been ever present in India’s bowling attack over the past couple of years. He played all 5 Tests in Australia, where he picked 16 wickets. Should he bowl a similar number of overs in the coming games, Siraj will have well bowled over 200 overs in the entire India vs England series. He bowled 156 in the Border Gavaskar Trophy and his effectiveness waned as the series went on. For context, Bumrah bowled 151 before he got injured in the final Test at Sydney.

Shubman Gill will have to find a way to give Siraj ample rest regardless of whether Bumrah plays or not. Unfortunately, the Indian captain is not blessed with a number of options with Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur both struggling in Leeds. Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh are other options, but the latter is yet to debut.