when Muhammad Sirajwas named in India’s squad for the T20I series against Ireland and England, surprisingly. After all, T20 International had ceased to be Muhammad Siraj’s world some time ago.Since winning the T20 World Cup in Barbados in June 2024, Siraj has played only one bilateral T20I series against Sri Lanka later that year. In the 2026 T20 World Cup, he only played in one game, against the USA, when Jaspreet Bumrah was relaxed. Even his place in this squad was vacant after the injury of Harshit Rana.In ODIs as well, Siraj gradually drifted away from the center of India’s plans. Since the 2023 World Cup, he has played just nine of India’s 23 ODIs, missing out on the Champions Trophy squad and seeing others move up the pecking order.His return for the Australia series in 2025 and the subsequent ODIs against New Zealand in January this year was largely due to Bumrah’s absence. When Bumrah returned for the home series against South Africa in 2025, Siraj once again found himself out of the playing XI.It was becoming increasingly clear that Siraj’s chances in white-ball cricket depended more on managing Bumrah’s workload than being seen as a long-term first-choice option.With Bumrah rested again for England and Ireland’s T20Is, Siraj’s inclusion made perfect sense. That is why Prasad Krishna was named as a replacement under the ‘workload management programme’, days after the squad was announced, looking interesting.
The obvious question was: How could a bowler who had barely figured into India’s T20I plans and fallen down the ODI pecking order suddenly need a rest?The answer lies not in the format in which he has stopped playing, but in the one in which India has flatly refused to play without him.While Siraj’s white-ball role has diminished, he has become India’s default fast bowler in Tests. He played when others were rested and when they were injured.And over the past three years, that responsibility has turned Siraj into something remarkable: the busiest fast bowler in world cricket.
There was a time when India’s fast bowlers simply endured the calendar. Kapil Dev took on an impossible burden as he had few alternatives. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma survived the era when managing the workload was still a thing of the past.But with Jasprit Bumrah came a new philosophy. The value of conservation increased. His schedule was carefully managed, series dropped, and workload monitored. The goal was simple: maximize longevity.But while Bumrah rested, someone still had to carry the burden. That there was a lamp.Since January 2023, Siraj has bowled 1,231 overs in Tests, ODIs, T20Is and the IPL – the most by any fast bowler during that period. Only Ravindra Jadeja has bowled more.
And most of that burden comes from Test cricket.T20Is have barely featured in Siraj’s workload, with just nine matches and 30 overs since 2023.In Tests, the figure stands at 744 overs in 30 matches – about 25 overs per Test. In other words, 60 percent of Siraj’s entire career has come in the format that places the most physical demands on fast bowlers.So while Siraj was considered more expendable in white-ball cricket, he became indispensable with the red ball.India have played 33 Tests since 2023, and Siraj has featured in 30 of them – a staggering 91 per cent. Bumrah, whose workload has been carefully managed, has played two-thirds.When India toured England in 2025, Siraj became the only Indian fast bowler to feature in all five Tests, bowling 185 overs and serving as the team’s leading wicket-taker.
And that perhaps explains why the latest decision should not be viewed only through the prism of T20Is. Those matches are, frankly, expendable. What lies ahead is not.A long international season. Seventeen ODIs. Ten tests. Preparations for the 2027 World Cup. And like Bumrah before him, India is now understanding something about Siraj.That the 32-year-old has quietly taken risks has become crucial.Perhaps this explains the recent decisions – to ignore him in Afghanistan’s ODIs and to leave him out of England and Ireland’s T20Is. With a tough season ahead, this is probably the only window available to let him breathe.There is a certain irony in all this.
For most of the last year, debates have been rife as to why Mohammad Siraj has become a one-format bowler. The data shows something very different. Far from being less important, Siraj had quietly become indispensable.While India built a workload management philosophy around Bumrah, Siraj became the man to bear the consequences. For three years he has been India’s workhorse. Perhaps this is the reason why the words ‘workload management’ eventually reached them too. Not because its performance has decreased. Not because his body is broken. But because India can no longer afford to do so.
