Mohammed Siraj misplaced his father days earlier than his realising his final dream – to play Check cricket for India. The worst half? Siraj couldn’t even be current for his father’s final rites as he was in quarantine in Australia, counting days for his Check debut.
Forward of IPL 2021, the place Siraj will flip up for the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore, the right-arm seamer remembered the tough interval when none of his teammates might even come to his room to supply condolences due to strict quarantine tips in place.
“Throughout Australia tour, I used to be in quarantine and once we got here again from apply, I obtained to know my father handed away. Sadly, nobody might come to my room,” Siraj in a video uploaded on Twitter by RCB on Thursday.
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“I referred to as house and my fiance, mom have been very supportive and so they informed me that I want to satisfy my father’s dream of seeing me play for India.”
Siraj fulfilled his father’s dream. He made his Check debut on December 26 within the second Check towards Australia. He additionally picked up 5 wickets in that match and helped India win it.
Siraj ended the Australia tour on a excessive by choosing his maiden five-for in Check cricket within the closing Check in Gabba, which India received to take the sequence 2-1.
Siraj mentioned he desires to play all of the three codecs and credited his success to fellow pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma.
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“Jasprit Bumrah used to face beside me every time I used to be bowling. He informed me to stay to the fundamentals and never do one thing additional. It is good to be taught from such an skilled participant,” Siraj mentioned.
“I even performed with Ishant Sharma, he has performed 100 Checks. It felt good to share the dressing room with him. My dream is to be the best wicket-taker for India and I’ll work arduous every time I get a possibility.” A key pacer for RCB, Siraj, who has captured 39 wickets in 35 IPL matches, mentioned he was low on confidence when he first joined the squad however a very good efficiency towards KKR lifted his spirits.
“Final yr, after I joined RCB, I used to be low on confidence. However after I began bowling with the brand new ball, I used to be additionally bowling on a single wicket, which helped me so much,” he mentioned.
“After which the efficiency towards KKR gave me loads of confidence. The workforce tradition right here is so good that everybody used to get collectively and talk about stuff like Virat does.” Siraj mentioned he’ll look to proceed his aggressive bowling after getting a very good suggestions from RCB’s batting marketing consultant Sanjay Bangar.
“I used to be speaking to Sanjay sir. He informed me that my rhythm is nice. I’m assembly you after so lengthy however you’re placing in the identical effort that you simply used to place for the Indian workforce. Your rhythm, aggression and confidence … it’s all wanting good, so proceed that.”
(With PTI inputs)