Team India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has opened up on how former head coach Ravi Shastri supported him when he lost his father. Incidentally, Siraj lost his father in 2020 due to a prolonged lung ailment when he traveled to Australia with the Indian team.
The celebrated cricketer couldn’t attend his father’s last rites due to the strict quarantine rules in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The 28-year-old played his first Test match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
He was one of the key performers throughout the series and grabbed everyone’s attention as India defended the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Mohammed Siraj revealed how Ravi Shastri stood like a rock beside him.
Speaking on Backstage with Boris, Siraj stated:
“When my dad passed away, then Ravi sir supported me. He came up to me and said ‘see Miyan, your dad would have wanted you to take five wickets on this tour. I was very emotional, depressed and shattered. I couldn’t understand what was going on. We were under hard quarantine.”
He added:
“I couldn’t figure what to do – should I have flown back home or stay here and fulfill dad’s dream. Then I thought that had I gone back, I would have had to undergo quarantine there as well. So I thought it would be better to continue being in Australia and fulfil my father’s dream.”
So far, Siraj has played 12 Test matches and has scalped a total of 36 at with an average of 29.64.
Mohammed Siraj to represent Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022
The tall and lanky fast bowler from Hyderabad was retained by the Royal Challengers ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction along with Glenn Maxwell and Virat Kohli.
He is expected to lead the pace attack when RCB begin their campaign against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
So far, he has played 50 IPL matches, picking up the same number of wickets at an economy rate of 8.38.
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