Ajinkya Rahane compares Mohammed Siraj with James Anderson after speedster's heroics in England Test series, says 'some bowlers take two balls to...'

India veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane lavished praise on Mohammed Siraj after his excellent outing in the recently concluded five-Test match series of Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 against England. The Hyderabad-based speedster ended his campaign as the leading wicket-taker, bagging 23 wickets from five matches at an average of 32.43. Apart from picking wickets, he played all the games in the series and bowled as many as 1110 legitimate deliveries.

Rahane lauded Siraj's aggression and said that his aggression and intensity make him a more lethal bowler. He also compared the speedster with England legend James Anderson, who picked up 704 wickets in his 188 Test outings.

Siraj made his Test debut in 2021 in Australia during the team's memorable Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2021, where Rahane was the stand-in captain for the last three games of the tour. He mentioned how disappointed Siraj was, as he felt he had been brought into the attack late.

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"What I like about Siraj is that he always liked to bowl longer spells. Even in the 2020-21 series, he was willing to do that with the same intensity. In Australia, when he was making his debut, he was angry because I had introduced him into the attack very late. He still has the anger inside him. This anger brings out the best in Mohammed Siraj. We saw in the England series. The aggression in his bowling and the intensity with which he bowls, he is always warmed up by the time he bowls his first ball. This is the great quality of a great bowler," said Rahane on his YouTube channel.

"Sometimes, other bowlers take 8-10 balls to warm up. Some bowlers take two balls to do so. But Siraj is always there. Just like James Anderson, he is always there from ball no.1. Even when he is bowling his eighth or ninth over in the spell, he still has the same aggression and intensity," he added.

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Rahane believes that Siraj has learned to take more responsibility, especially while bowling in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who played just three Tests against England.

"I have noticed one change in him; he is confident about his own fields. When a bowler tells the captain, 'Give me this field', then it becomes really easy. In this series, the responsibility helped him when Jasprit Bumrah was not there," he added.

The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 ended in a 2-2 draw after the Shubman Gill-led side defeated England by six runs in the last and final Test of the series.