"Siraj was absolutely cooked, roasted and toasted" - Aakash Chopra on India's bowling issues in BGT 2024-25

Aakash Chopra has picked the absence of a potent third seamer as India's biggest bowling issue in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. He pointed out that Mohammed Siraj was resultantly burned out by the end of the series, with Jasprit Bumrah's injury-forced absence in the final Test compounding the visitors' problems.

Australia beat India by six wickets in Sydney on Sunday (January 5) to complete a 3-1 series win. Siraj, who picked up 20 wickets in 157.1 overs in the series, seemed exhausted and wasn't at his best in the final innings.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that the absence of an ideal seamer to partner Bumrah and Siraj proved to be India's stumbling block in their bowling department.

"Fast bowling is a pack. India couldn't prepare that pack. When (Mohammed) Shami wasn't there, you knew we were slightly deflated. Then you played a debutant (Harshit Rana) with Siraj at the start. He played two matches and then you played Akash Deep. He was bowling well, he was unlucky, and in the end, you played Prasidh Krishna," he said (14:15).

"In all this, Siraj was cooked and how. He bowled the most overs for India in this series. If you see the entire year, he has just bowled too much. He has kept bowling continuously across formats. He tries his best. Miyan Magic is like that, but in the end, Siraj was absolutely cooked, roasted and toasted," Chopra added.

On the flip side, Aakash Chopra noted that Australia got an ideal replacement in Scott Boland when Josh Hazlewood was injured. He added that Boland seemed to be even better than Hazlewood.

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"He is the pole star" - Aakash Chopra on Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah picked up 32 wickets at an average of 13.06 in nine innings in BGT 2024-25. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra termed Jasprit Bumrah 'the pole star' of India's bowling.

"Bumrah is the shining star. He is the pole star. No matter how dark the night might be, he keeps showing you the way. He is that kind of a player - 32 wickets. If he had been fit and had bowled in Sydney's second innings, he wouldn't have allowed even these many runs to be scored," he said.

The former India opener added that the visitors were unlikely to defend the 162-run target in the Sydney Test once Bumrah couldn't bowl in the second innings.

"To be fair, he went out in the first innings after picking up two wickets. The other fast bowlers put all their might and kept themselves alive, gave India a lead of four runs, but it wasn't going to happen without Bumrah in the second innings," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra noted that he does not recall a single bowler defining an entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy series as Jasprit Bumrah did. He added that the unconventional seamer's presence also helped the other bowlers to pick up wickets.