Mohammed Siraj was the last man standing in south London.
It has been a gruelling series for the two sets of fast bowlers. A combination of unusually dry, hot English summer and a succession of slow, flat wickets have made this a particularly strenuous series for the quicks.
Of all the seamers to take the park this series, Siraj was the only one to play throughout all five Tests. Chris Woakes was picked for all five Tests but his participation in the series ended after sustaining a nasty shoulder injury on the first evening at the Kia Oval.
All of Jasprit Bumrah, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Akash Deep, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Prasidh Krishna were at one point or another either injured or at least not fit enough to be selected. Yet there he was, on the series’ final day securing a famous India victory with his last ball of the tour, which also happened to be his fifth-quickest. Siraj didn’t just stagger to the end of the series, he sprinted there having run further than the rest.
Increasingly it feels like durability is an attribute that is taken for granted. For England, it was generally taken as read that Anderson and Broad, even in their mid-30s, would be available for all five Tests in a given series.
An argument frequently made during this tour has been that the schedule has been particularly compact, that since the introduction of The Hundred in 2021, five-Test series have been squeezed into a shorter and shorter window, making life more difficult for the modern seamer.
While it is certainly true that five-Test series are played over shorter periods than they were historically, there is no discernible difference in the length of five-Test series in England since the 2009 Ashes. The 2025 Anderson-Tenulkar Trophy took place over 45 days; India’s five-Test series in England seven years ago was played over 41 days. The longest five-Test series in England since the 2005 Ashes, were the 47-day Ashes series in 2009 and 2015. Essentially, administrators have been milking English summers for all their worth long before the introduction of The Hundred.
As epic as Siraj’s efforts were, Stuart Broad, aged 37, sent down just seven fewer deliveries in the 2023 Ashes. For whatever reason, modern seamers are less durable. There are exceptions – a key tenet of Australia’s recent success is the fitness and availability of their Big Three – but this series really has been a case of watching the walking wounded at times. In such circumstances, Siraj’s sustained intensity has marked him out from the rest.
On day two, England were racing along and on track to put together a potentially insurmountable first innings lead. Siraj was the difference maker, claiming three wickets across an eight-over spell after lunch, including the wicket of Jacob Bethell in the seventh of those, finding the energy to pin the England youngster with a quick and accurate yorker. It was this wicket that Siraj would later say was his favourite, as he executed the set-up perfectly – first nipping it across the left-hander before slipping in the yorker.
On the fourth morning, Siraj once more bowled an epic eight-over burst. His only victim this time was the England skipper Ollie Pope, who Siraj twice pinned on the pads by a nip-backer off the seam this Test. On another day, it may well have been the defining spell. He was desperately unlucky not to have dismissed Ben Duckett earlier on. When Duckett was on 38, Siraj beat the England opener five times in one over, the final delivery of which was clocked at 89mph. On the penultimate day of this arduous tour, Siraj was still operating at maximum intensity.
Cricket is such a cruel sport that as England approached tea with the finish line in sight, it looked like Siraj’s most memorable contribution to this series would be spilling a Harry Brook hook over the boundary edge when the England No. 5 was not yet past 20. But after Brook pulled the door slightly ajar with his dismissal with 73 left to win, Siraj was once again sublime.
Generating appreciable in-swing with the old ball, India were suddenly making life extremely difficult for England. Siraj went to the well once more, working in tandem with Krishna as Deep had finally begun to tire. Krishna struck twice but Siraj was unrelenting. His five overs in the evening session conceded just four runs off the bat – England’s march to victory had been halted.
Fast forward to day five, an at times joyous and celebratory affair but also one with a slightly chaotic energy to it. The nerves were palpable. Jamie Smith was uncharacteristically lacking in conviction, his feet not moving anywhere. India were not 100 per cent on it in the field and the fields themselves were occasionally confused. The tension had even reached the officials – the usually brilliant Ahsan Raza incorrectly giving Josh Tongue lbwwhen the tracking technology showed the ball to be going high and wide of leg stump. There lacked a main character, someone whose personality rose to the occasion rather than was overawed by it.
That man was of course Siraj, who took three of the final four wickets to fall including the yorker to Atkinson that sealed the game. As Siraj sprinted away in jubilation, you couldn’t but feel he deserved a moment like this. As much as his durability is an under-appreciated attribute he has become an immensely skilful bowler, one who wears his creeping emergence out of Bumrah’s shadow well. He maintains an impeccable, attacking length and generates movement when others often can’t.
Bumrah is clearly on a different level when he is on the park, but who was at the heart of India’s two wins this series? Siraj now has 76 wickets in victories, above Javagal Srinath and below Kapil Dev on the all-time India list. This was a statement performance from someone who deserves the recognition that comes with the status of being a champion bowler.
Follow Wisden for all England vs India Test series updates, including live scores, latest news, team lineups, schedule and more. The live streaming details for the ENG vs IND series in India, UK, USA and rest of the world can be found here. For Wisden quizzes, head here.
