Mohammed Siraj has been an important member of India in Test cricket since his debut in the BGT 2020-21 and has played a big role in many of India's overseas wins.
Recently, on the India's tour of England 2025, Mohammed Siraj was the only Indian pacer who survived all five Test matches and delivered impactful performances right till the end. However, despite his heroics in the overseas Tests, the pacer is yet to deliver to his standards in the home Tests.
Now, in the first Test against West Indies, he managed to grab four wickets, but overall, he has picked just 23 wickets in 26 innings of the home Tests. It shows that he has struggled to pick wickets regularly for India in Test matches at home, and let's now try to analyse the possible reasons for the same.
Mohammed Siraj: Home vs away record
Criterion
Pacers
Spinners
Innings
26
51
Wickets
23
94
5w/10w
0/0
5/0
Dominance of spinners in Indian conditions
The conditions in India have always assisted spinners, especially in Test cricket, and in the last 15 years, they have been even more inclined towards tweakers. The same has been the case since Mohammed Siraj's debut in 2020, and spinners have picked approximately 2.5 times more wickets than pacers.
Wickets taken in Indian since Mohammed Siraj's debut
Criterion
Pacers
Spinners
Overs
1817.4
4258.5
Wickets
203
543
Average
29.77
25.36
Strike-rate
53.7
47
Thus, pacers have played a minimal role, with India going with only a pacer who tends to bowl less and less as the game goes on. Overall, spinners have bowled over 4000 overs since Siraj's debut in Indian conditions, while pacers have bowled less than 2000 overs. Siraj, too, has been involved in such Test matches, and so the Indian pacer has struggled to find his mojo in the spin-friendly conditions, which has played a part in his mediocre bowling record at home.
Siraj's inability to extract help from the old ball in Indian conditions
Mohammed Siraj has done well in conditions where there is a bit of help for the pacers off the air or off the pitch. However, in India, there is hardly any help for the pacers, and that is where one needs the ability to use the old ball effectively. Jasprit Bumrah has shown that ability with his variations, yorkers and ability to reverse swing, while in the past, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have also delivered in Indian conditions.
Siraj, on the other hand, is effective with the new ball mostly, and in the game against West Indies, too, the pacer bagged three wickets in his opening spell. The pitch has a greenish tinge to it in Ahmedabad, which helped Siraj get some movement off the deck and helped him get those early wickets. With the old ball, Bumrah was again more effective than Siraj, and so to improve his figures in Indian conditions, the Hyderabad pacer needs to work on his skills with the old ball.
Mohammed Siraj has a good first-class record, so he has the experience of picking wickets in India. However, at the international level, the pitches are more inclined towards spinners than they are at the first-class level, so Siraj needs to upgrade his old-ball game to be more impactful at home.
Mohammed Siraj against West Indies (Source: AFP)
