Mohammed Siraj

Mohammed Siraj (born 13 March 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian national cricket team as a Right-arm fast medium bowler. He plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League and Hyderabad in domestic cricket. As of April 2023, Siraj is currently ranked World No. 3 in the ICC men’s ODI bowlers rankings.

Mohammed Siraj
Mohammed Siraj.jpg

Siraj in 2017
Personal information
Born 13 March 1994 (age 29)
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Nickname Miyaan
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[1]
Batting Right-handed
Bowling Right-arm fast[2]
Role Bowler
International information
National side
  • India (2017–present)
Test debut (cap 298) 26 December 2020 v Australia
Last Test 1 March 2023 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 225) 15 January 2019 v Australia
Last ODI 22 March 2023 v Australia
ODI shirt no. 73 (formerly 13)
T20I debut (cap 71) 4 November 2017 v New Zealand
Last T20I 22 November 2022 v New Zealand
T20I shirt no. 73 (formerly 13)
Domestic team information
Years Team
2015–present Hyderabad
2017 Sunrisers Hyderabad (squad no. 13)
2018–present Royal Challengers Bangalore (squad no. 73)
2022 Warwickshire (squad no. 73)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC
Matches 18 24 8 58
Runs scored 79 50 425
Batting average 5.26 6.00 7.45
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0
Top score 16* 9 46
Balls bowled 2,686 1118 192 9,859
Wickets 47 43 11 207
Bowling average 31.29 20.72 26.73 25.04
5 wickets in innings 1 0 0 6
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 2
Best bowling 5/73 4/32 4/17 8/59
Catches/stumpings 9/– 5/– 2/– 15/–
Source: Cricinfo, 25 March 2023

Early life

Siraj was born on 13 March 1994 in Hyderabad. His father was an Auto-rickshaw driver, and his mother worked in other people’s houses.

Domestic career

Siraj made his first-class debut on 15 November 2015 under the coaching of Karthik Udupa playing for Hyderabad in the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy tournament. He made his Twenty20 debut on 2 January 2016 in the 2015–16 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament. During the 2016–17 Ranji Trophy tournament, he was the highest wicket-taker for Hyderabad with 41 wickets at an average of 18.92.

In February 2017, he was bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad team for the 2017 Indian Premier League for 2.6 crores. In January 2018, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2018 IPL auction.

In February 2018, he was the leading wicket-taker in the 2017–18 Vijay Hazare Trophy, with 23 dismissals in seven matches. In October 2018, he was named in India A’s squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy. In October 2019, he was named in India B’s squad for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy.

On 21 October 2020, he became the first bowler in the history of Indian Premier League to bowl back to back maiden overs in a single match.

International career

In October 2017, he was named in India’s Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against New Zealand. He made his T20I debut for India against New Zealand on 4 November 2017, taking the wicket of Kane Williamson, finishing with figures of 1 wicket for 53 runs from four overs.

In February 2018, he was named in India’s Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for the 2018 Nidahas Trophy. In September 2018, he was named in India’s Test squad for their series against the West Indies, but he did not play. In December 2018, he was named in India’s One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against Australia. He made his ODI debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval on 15 January 2019.

On 26 October 2020, Siraj was named in India’s Test squad for their series against Australia. After some deliberation to choose between Navdeep Saini and Siraj following an injury to Mohammad Shami, Siraj was chosen ahead of Saini, and he made his Test debut for India on 26 December 2020, against Australia. His first Test wicket was of Marnus Labuschagne. In January 2021, during the fourth Test of the series against Australia, Siraj took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

In January 2023, Siraj placed important role in the Ind vs NZ ODI series. He scored 4 wickets in the first ODI which helped the team to win the match for 12 runs.

On January 21, 2023 Siraj became No. 1 ODI Bowler in ICC ODI Rankings for Bowlers.