Over the past two years, Mohammed Siraj made his name as one of the fiercest fast bowlers in the Indian team. The right-armer has already cemented his place in Test XI and is one of the few all-format players in the Indian team. The 27-year-old is also a part of India's ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming series against West Indies, which begins on February 5.
Siraj gained significant strides in Indian cricket circles after impressive performances in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he took 11 wickets in nine games; his performances improved further in 2021 when he bowled at an economy rate of merely 6.78 in fifteen matches. As a result, he earned an international call-up for the tour of Australia and made his Test debut in Melbourne; eventually finishing as India's highest wicket-taker in the series (13 wickets in three games).
However, Siraj didn't have a good start to his international career in 2017 where he proved expensive in a T20I against New Zealand. A year later, he struggled in the IPL as well and Siraj recalled a game against KKR in the 2019 edition, where he bowled two beamers and was removed from the attack, registering figures of 0/36 in merely 2.2 overs.
“When I bowled two beamers against KKR in 2018 (2019), I received a lot of criticism. People even told me to leave cricket and ‘go drive auto with your father’. There were so many comments," Siraj said on the RCB Podcast.
{{/usCountry}}“When I bowled two beamers against KKR in 2018 (2019), I received a lot of criticism. People even told me to leave cricket and ‘go drive auto with your father’. There were so many comments," Siraj said on the RCB Podcast.
{{/usCountry}}“When I was first selected for India, Mahi bhai told me one thing; 'Don't listen to anyone. You will play good today, and everyone will praise you. Tomorrow, when you perform badly, the same people will bring you down. Never take an opinion'. I remember people trolled me so much back then. The same people call me the ‘best bowler’ now. I don't need to listen to that. I was the same Siraj then and I am the same Siraj now.”
Siraj mentioned that IPL made his life “better.”
“When I was selected in the IPL, my life got better. My father stopped driving the auto, we bought a new home. I didn't need anything else in life. I only strived to work harder then,” said the Indian fast bowler.