In a short span of time, Mohammed Siraj has become a vital part of Indian pace attack. His impressive start to India Test career has continued in England where he produced a match-winning performance with the ball in the recently concluded Lord’s Test where the tourists took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan reckons that the hunger to learn and desire to succeed has been a big reason behind the 27-year-old’s rise but credit must also be given to the India bowling coach Bharat Arun who has imparted invaluable knowledge that has helped the pacer immensely.
“Siraj’s success also has a lot to do with Arun. When he was the coach for Hyderabad for a year or so, he identified Siraj. And to Siraj’s credit, he had the hunger and desire to learn. Arun imparted a lot of knowledge,” Sivaramakrishnan, a former India spinner, told Hindustan Times.
So far in seven Tests, Siraj has taken 27 wickets at 26.29 including one five-wicket haul.
Siraj and Arun go a long before the latter became the Indian bowling coach.
During his time with Hyderabad as their coach in 2016, it was Arun who nurtured the raw talent that Siraj was in possession of who in turn took the advice of his guru, implemented it without being skeptical and is now enjoying the rewards.
“Siraj has just followed him. Some people might doubt it. Be skeptical whether it is the right thing to do or not but Siraj took Arun as his guru and went about doing exactly what he wanted him to do. Arun must have then passed it on to Shastri,” Sivaramakrishnan explained.
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