CHENNAI: When Akash Deep replaced Mohammed Siraj in the playing XI for the Pune Test against New Zealand, it all indicated form. Yes, the Indian team has been prone to rotating their fast bowlers at home — they did the same during the England series earlier this year — but here, it felt like there is more to it.

In the eight matches he played this year, Siraj had accounted for 19 wickets at an average of 29.47, which from the outset might not look as bad. But take away the one Cape Town Test, Siraj had just 12 scalps to show in 14 innings at home. The home average this year was 42.83. The only good thing about it is that it is better than his home Test average last year — 73.

Clearly, something is not going right for Siraj. Off the 14 innings at home, he has gone wicketless in nine of them. It is not just that he has gone wicketless — when India are playing at home spinners are expected to take care of the workload more often than not — but the fact that Siraj’s only wicket with the new ball at home this year came in Chennai. In every other inning, he had not been able to make an impact upfront. It is easy to pinpoint the numbers on form, but there seems to be an underlying factor. India, while rotating the bowlers in the longest format as much as they can, seems to have bowled Siraj into the ground over the last couple of years.