There's no denying that workload management occupies an important space in the modern game. With the number of international matches and the T20 leagues, there is no escaping the fact that players need a breather, too.
However, the same workload management can have an adverse impact on some players, too. Mohammed Siraj seems to be one of those, and his struggle for rhythm was evident during the Sri Lanka Tests.
For the longest time, Siraj, who recently led Hyderabad to a win as the skipper over Tripura in the Ranji Trophy 2026 fixture, has long been described as a workhorse. The kind of player who can put in long spells and get better through them.
The biggest example of this trait came during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy last year, where he played all five Tests against England (bowling 185.3 overs, the most by any bowler across the two teams), came up with a match-winning nine-wicket haul at the Oval and helped India walk away with a famous win to draw the series 2-2.
However, the first half of 2026 witnessed the team management adopting a cautious approach, leading to Siraj not playing every match.
{{/usCountry}}However, the first half of 2026 witnessed the team management adopting a cautious approach, leading to Siraj not playing every match.
{{/usCountry}}After the IPL campaign for the Gujarat Titans, Siraj was selected for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, the two Tests against Sri Lanka, and the three ODIs against the West Indies. Meanwhile, he was rested for the white-ball assignments against Afghanistan and England.
The rest seemed to throw Siraj off, and that might have prevented India from forcing a win in Colombo. Across the two Tests, the 32-year-old's average speed ranged from 125 to 130 kmph. Given that he usually bowls around the 135-140 kmph mark, this was a big drop. Midway through the series, Siraj dropped a hint that the lack of game time may have affected his pace.
The search for rhythm
After the Sri Lanka contest, Siraj featured in one ODI against the West Indies. However, he also played the Duleep Trophy final for the South Zone and recently also led Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy opener against Tripura. In the Ranji encounter, Siraj went wicketless in the first innings, bowling a total of nine overs. However, in the second innings, he returned with scalps of Hrituraj Roy and Rajat Dey, bowling a total of nine overs.
The speeds were back in 135-138 kmph range, and Siraj is starting to feel like a bowler of old. Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun, who has worked with Siraj in the past, also downplayed the speedster's reduced pace in the Sri Lanka series, saying it's just a matter of him getting his rhythm back.
“This temporary loss of form, be it a bowler or a batter, is bound to happen sometimes," said Arun during a select media interaction organised by the Sony Sports Network.
“And then he's taken time away from cricket before the Sri Lanka series. I really don't know what kind of workloads he went through and what his training programmes were. Sometimes, after a long gap for any sportsman, it takes a little while to shed those small things that creep into your game. But very soon, with his experience, all Mohammed Siraj should be looking for is the rhythm in his bowling. So, if he can work towards ways of regaining his rhythm along with his coach, I think he'll be back to being what he was in the past,” he added.
Arun, who changed the fortunes of the Indian pace attack during his tenure as the bowling coach, added that the “understanding around workload management is not as it should be" and it all boils down to identifying what works for the individual and what doesn't.
“Workload management is nothing but getting a player, whenever he is playing, to make sure that he is absolutely fit and ready. As a fast bowler, physical fitness is of paramount importance. Yes, nobody is 100% fit all the time. Your fitness ranges from 90% to 100%. But being 90% fit, I think, is very, very important for any fast bowler,” said Arun.
“And it is the team management. When I say team management, it is the work of the physios, the strength and conditioning coaches, and the bowling coaches to make sure they have enough under their belts so they are sharp and raring to go in matches. That is number one,” he added.
‘The pace should never drop’
Saba Karim, the former India selector who was on air during the Sri Lanka series, said he couldn't make sense of why Siraj's pace dropped.
“That should not be the case. The pace should never drop. In fact, the pace should increase. And I think I was covering the Test match in Sri Lanka, and I realised that. And I feel that Mohammad Siraj has got enough talent, and I think his ability or the highlight of his performance has always been the pace of delivery because that hustles the batters,” Karim told HT.
“I think he is a very robust kind of pace bowler who runs in hard, and he bowls hard. And he bowls the heavy ball. And that is his speciality. So I think if there is anything amiss with fitness, it should be figured out as soon as possible by the support staff. Also by the specialists at the Centre of Excellence," he added.