‘Mohammed Siraj is ahead of Jasprit Bumrah skill-wise’: Ashish Nehra

Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra feels that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has more variations in his bowling than his India teammate Jasprit Bumrah. Siraj rose to prominence and has grown from strength to strength since his Test debut against Australia in December last year. Nehra, however, said that the RCB pacer must increase his game awareness and match fitness.

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“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… (now he) is a very good all-format bowler. There is no shortage of skill, he has all types of variations. I would in fact say that skill-wise, he is even ahead of Bumrah if you talk of variations”, said Nehra in a video on Cricbuzz.

“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 bowler added.

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Siraj picked up five wickets in the first four matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 and has majorly contributed to containing batsmen rather than picking wickets. 

RCB, after four matches, have won as many games and remain to be the only unbeaten team in IPL 2021. Although Nehra appeared impressed with RCB’s start and overall performance, he emphasised that they should seal the top two spots and experiment with the team.