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Former India pacer RP Singh reckons that Mohammed Siraj can be a replacement for injury-prone Jasprit Bumrah in the national squad. Praising the Hyderabad pacer, Singh added that if Siraj continues to grow, he can also be the next Mohammed Shami.
Siraj has arguably been India’s best fast bowler across formats over the last few months. He has lifted his game in Bumrah’s absence and has delivered some fantastic performances.
The right-arm pacer is currently representing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023). He has looked in good rhythm, claiming 15 wickets in nine matches at an average of 17.20 and an economy rate of 7.37.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Singh made a big statement on Siraj. He opined:
“Of course, he can be a replacement for Bumrah. In fact, I feel, if his graph continues to increase he can be the next Mohammed Shami.”
Analyzing the pacer’s significant improvement in recent months, Singh stated that the bowler has worked on his fitness and has made some technical adjustments to his bowling as well. The former left-arm pacer commented:
“I have been following Siraj for a long time now. When he joined the Indian team, his graph was really high and then slowly it started falling. But it is good to see that he has worked on a lot of things this time, fitness being a major point.
“Now, if you look at the technical bit, he has worked a lot on his wrist position and follow through for which he is getting the ball top bounce better and is also bowling stump-to-stump.”
Siraj has so far represented India in 18 Tests, 24 ODIs, and eight T20Is, claiming 43, 47 and 11 wickets, respectively.
“The lockdown was very important for me” - Siraj
After being named Player of the Match for his figures of 4/21 in an IPL 2023 game against Punjab Kings (PBKS) last month, Siraj revealed that the lockdown was very important for him as he got time to work on his game and fitness.
He had commented:
“The lockdown was very important for me. I was quite down before that because I used to be expensive earlier. I focused on my gym training, on my bowling and I wanted to do well.”
The fast bowler will be next seen in action when RCB take on Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday, May 6.
