The Indian selectors on Monday announced the squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against visitors New Zealand in the coming week. One of the surprises that included in the squad was the call-up of Mohammad Siraj. He is the same guy who was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL for a whopping INR 2.6 crores. However, following his call-up to the side against New Zealand on Monday, Siraj was pretty surprised with it and said that he never expected to be called-up so soon. Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj receive maiden T20I call-up
“I knew that some time in future I will get a call-up but did not expect it this soon. I can’t tell you how happy I am. When I told my parents, they were speechless. It’s a dream come true. I feel proud that at 23, I am good enough to shoulder the responsibility of my family. The day I got an IPL contract, I told my father that I won’t let him work anymore. Usi din se maine father ko bola ki aap abhi rest kaaro [that very day I told Dad that now you can rest]. And yes, I have shifted with my family to a new house,” said Siraj, as reported by PTI.
“Whatever I am today is primarily because of Ranji Trophy performance. My 40-odd wickets last season gave me the confidence. There’s nothing like getting wickets in First-Class cricket. I was picked for Rest of India after that and because of Ranji Trophy, I got the IPL deal. So 60 per cent credit for this call-up is performance in First-Class cricket,” he added. IPL 2017: 10 young IND stars who have made a mark
He also credited Bharat Arun for his tips while playing for Hyderabad that really helped him in improving his game. “I can’t tell you how much I am indebted to Bharat Arun sir. He is a brilliant coach. Last year, he was with the Hyderabad team and for the first time, I got an insight to the kind of variations needed to survive at the highest level. He told me about the variations in slower deliveries, how to bowl a knuckle ball. All these things helped me when I played IPL,” he said.
“Bhuvi-bhai encouraged me a lot during IPL. He would come up with lot of valuable suggestions on what areas to hit at the death, the lengths for particular batsmen,” he added. He also credited India A coach Rahul Dravid for his priceless inputs to improve his game. “Dravid sir told me that I need not change anything in my bowling. His advice has been pretty simple. Do what has got you success till now. Hopefully, I can replicate my success at the highest level,” he concluded.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.