Fast bowler Mohammad Siraj has been on fire in first-class cricket, picking up 24 wickets across three matches to stake his claim for a spot in the Test match set-up.

In the ongoing unofficial Test in Bengaluru against South Africa ‘A’ , Hyderabad quick Siraj – playing for India ‘A’ – picked up five wickets in the first innings and 4-18 in 10 overs in the second to take his match tally to nine. The Proteas are only four wickets down with one more day’s play left, which means Siraj can do more damage.

Before this match, Siraj was in top form in England for India ‘A’, picking up eight wickets across two innings against West Indies ‘A’ and seven wickets against the England Lions. That means he has already snared 24 wickets from three first-class matches with the possibility of more.

India are missing the services of key Test fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and  Bhuvneshwar Kumar and their absence was felt in the first test against England in Birmingham which the visitors lost by 31 runs.

Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav did not make much an impact on an extremely helpful pitch and in a game of such small margins, a better effort from either of the two could have done the job for India.

With Ishant Sharma the only Indian fast bowler to bowl consistently in the opening Test, the management will be looking elsewhere to bolster the pace attack for the remaining four matches. There is Shardul Thakur in the squad but the management could look at someone like Siraj as he has bowled well in England, is a proper red-ball bowler and is among the wickets.