Siraj likely to play leading role as India’s top pacer in Lanka

Hyderabad’s Mohammed Siraj is expected to spearhead India’s pace attack during the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting August 15. As a senior member of the fast-bowling unit, his primary responsibility will be to capture early wickets with the new ball and provide high-intensity spells to bolster India’s bowling attack.

Siraj is slated to handle a heavy workload alongside his fast bowling partners Prasidh Krishna, Auqib Nabi or Gurnoor Brar. He might even chip in with useful contributions with the bat. Siraj recently displayed handy batting form with a quickfire cameo in the team’s warm-up match, adding extra depth to the lower order.

India’s most dependable top gun

Siraj is now undoubtedly the leading fast bowler in India. Bumrah’s fitness problems are a drawback to his effectiveness. But Siraj is indeed an unusually durable fast bowler. What is especially remarkable is that his fitness has held up despite shouldering enormous workloads.

In the 2025 England Test series alone, he bowled 185.3 overs in five Tests and yet remained effective right through the final match.

What makes him so resilient? Siraj has a lean but powerful build, with strong legs, hips and core body. Fast bowling places tremendous forces on the lower back, hips, knees and ankles, so having a strong kinetic chain is crucial. In this respect, he is similar to Kapil Dev.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Kapil Dev’s career was his durability. Between 1978 and 1994, he played 131 Test matches for India. He had a naturally athletic physique, strength, flexibility and coordination. He had a fluid bowling action that placed less stress on his body than the actions of many fast bowlers.

Understood importance of strength training

Interestingly, Siraj had said once that he felt going to the gym might cause injuries. That changed in 2018 when he worked with India’s strength-and-conditioning coach Soham Desai. He learned that gym work was essential for a fast bowler and that training had to be combined with proper workload management and recovery.

He doesn’t constantly change his training routine. Siraj has said that he has essentially maintained the same training routine since 2018. He feels that changing it unnecessarily could upset his body’s rhythms. His body has adapted over many years to the specific stresses of his bowling achievements. His bowling action appears to be robust and smooth.

Siraj has a relatively uncomplicated action. He generates pace without the extremely unusual biomechanical demands as seen in the case of some other bowlers.

Here again, a comparison with Kapil Dev is inevitable. Dev maintained a lean body weight and had a beautifully effortless action. Carrying less weight reduced stress on his joints and the fact that he could bowl long spells in hot Indian conditions meant that Dev’s cardiovascular fitness was exceptional.

Extraordinary work capacity

The capacity to work hard may be Siraj’s greatest physical gift. He can bowl long spells while maintaining his intensity. During the 2025 series in England, he repeatedly bowled demanding spells and was still capable of producing high-quality deliveries late in matches. That suggests not merely strength, but exceptional cardiovascular conditioning and muscular endurance.

There is also a psychological component. Siraj bowls with tremendous mental aggression and energy, but he doesn’t appear to become mentally exhausted by repeated spells. His willingness to keep running in and bowl another over is a large part of what makes him such a valuable Test bowler.

However, there is a potential danger too. His durability has encouraged captains to use him heavily. By 2025, he had bowled more overs in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA) since his Test debut than any other Indian fast bowler, and experts were already warning that his workload needed management.

So, the paradox is that the very quality that makes Siraj so valuable, namely his ability to keep bowling long spells, could also become his greatest physical risk because captains are tempted to overuse him.

There is an interesting contrast between Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah is an extraordinary bowler, but his unusual action places enormous demands on his body. Siraj’s great advantage is that he combines pace, athleticism, endurance and an easily repeatable action.

In short, Siraj’s secret for remaining injury-free and consistent is probably the combination of good natural physical attributes plus consistency in his training methods. If he succeeds in the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka, it will do a world of good for his own confidence and help India’s cause immensely too.