Ahmedabad: India’s pace spearhead Mohammed Siraj continued his dream run in red-ball cricket, overtaking Australia’s Mitchell Starc to become the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Siraj achieved the milestone during the opening session of the first Test against West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, where he returned with fiery figures of 7-3-19-3.
Siraj struck early, removing opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul (0) with a short ball that kicked up awkwardly, brilliantly pouched by wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel. He then bowled a peach to castle Brandon King (9) after the batter had earlier driven him for a boundary, celebrating the dismissal with his trademark ‘Siuuu’. His third scalp came when Alick Athanaze (12) edged to KL Rahul at second slip. By the 12th over, West Indies were tottering at 42/4, with Siraj claiming three and Jasprit Bumrah adding one.
The visitors, still recovering from their record-low Test score of 27 in their last outing, found some resistance from skipper *Roston Chase (22)**, who shared a 48-run stand with Shai Hope (26) before the latter was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav. Bumrah also accounted for opener John Campbell (8) earlier in the innings.
With his three-wicket burst, Siraj now leads the WTC wicket charts in 2025 with 30 wickets, ahead of Starc (29), Nathan Lyon (24), Shamar Joseph (22), and Josh Tongue (21). Overall, he is the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket this year, only behind Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani (36).
Siraj’s standout performances this year include his seven-wicket haul at Birmingham and a nine-wicket match-winning effort at The Oval, which powered India to a dramatic series-leveling victory in England.
On a surface that offered minimal early movement, Siraj’s relentless pace and control proved decisive, once again underlining his stature as India’s go-to strike bowler in Tests.
