Jasprit Bumrah has been out of action for almost a year now. The ace pacer has been recovering from a knee injury that has kept him away from the game and led him to miss some major cricket tournaments. Since his injury, he has missed tournaments like the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.
On the other hand, he was also not part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home, and he is not part of the Indian team that will face Australia in the World Test Championship final, which will take place in Kennington Oval, London, between June 7 and 11.
It is also true that the Indian pacer department has missed him in crunch situations. However, the biggest positive for Team India in this duration is the form of Mohammed Siraj. The 29-year-old has done a tremendous job and has become the leading bowler for India across formats.
Not just for India, he has shown his 2.0 version in the ongoing IPL 2023 for Royal Challengers Bangalore, which has come as a confidence booster for Faf du Plessis and his team. Siraj is currently among the highest wicket-takers in the tournament, with 15 wickets in nine games.
Adding to that, RCB has picked up the most wickets (22) so far in the power-play at an economy rate of 7.3, which was 8.46 in last season. All this is due to Siraj’s skill. That’s what former Indian pacer and 2007 T20 World Cup winner RP Singh said, praising the 29-year-old.
In a discussion on Jio Cinema, Singh also said that Siraj can replace Bumrah and become the second Mohammed Shami for Team India. He said, “Siraj 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. 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.”