IPL 2021: "Mohammed Siraj even ahead of Jasprit Bumrah, skill-wise" - Ashish Nehra

With Mohammed Siraj getting better by the day, former pacer Ashish Nehra believes the Hyderabad cricketer pips even Jasprit Bumrah in terms of skill.

Mohammed Siraj’s stocks have soared high after the Test series Down Under earlier this year. The pacer picked up 13 wickets in three Tests against the Kangaroos, including a five-wicket haul.

He continued to impress in the home series against England, with three wickets in two Tests. The 27-year-old pacer has also started this year’s IPL brightly, picking up five wickets in four games, at an economy rate of 6.06.

Nehra lauded Mohammed Siraj as an ‘all-format bowler.’ The left-arm pacer seemed quite pleased with the way Siraj has been executing his variations.

“There are some bowlers whom you include only for T20s, for white-ball matches. So I think Siraj is a very good all-format bowler. There is no shortage of skill, he has all types of variations. I would say that skill-wise, he is even ahead of Bumrah, if you talk of variations,” he added.

Ashish Nehra believes that a good red-ball bowler could excel in the shorter formats of the game as well. He also hinted that Siraj finds an edge in this regard, as he has done well in Test cricket.

“There was talk about a couple of years ago that he used to pick up 5-6 wickets in every match for India A with the red ball, and I’ve always believed that a good red-ball bowler, a Test match bowler has a greater chance of succeeding as a white-ball bowler,” he added.

“Sky is the limit for Mohammed Siraj” - Ashish Nehra

Ashish Nehra, though, maintained that Mohammed Siraj would have to keep his fitness levels up, while also working on the mental aspect of his game.

“He has a different slower one, there is no lack of speed, he can move the new ball. He needs to keep his fitness and sharpen his mind. If he can do these two things well, sky is the limit,” the former cricketer added.

This year, Mohammed Siraj has been picked in the RCB line-up ahead of Navdeep Saini. Along with Harshal Patel, the 27-year-old has helped the team resolve issues the Virat Kohli-led team has faced in terms of bowling, thus playing a crucial role in the side's four consecutive wins.

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