Over the last four years, Mohammed Siraj has seen it all. He lost his father early into the tour of Australia in November 2020 and could not come home because of the quarantine norms Down Under. What’s more, none of his teammates could even go to his room to give him a shoulder to cry on. At the time, there were police outside every room just in case the Indians tried to violate protocol. Only the physio was allowed to go to his room to treat him, and Nitin Patel used the window to console the young man who was in mourning. Enduring grief, he stayed on to do duty for his team and had a dream debut in Melbourne.
And now, he is back in the same city with his team on the cusp of history. And just like in 2021, when there was racial abuse directed at him in Sydney, this time round it is constant booing each time the ball is given to him. Siraj v Travis Head is a story within a story, and Siraj has faced a lot already.
But then, that’s what helps set it up for him. The Boxing Day Test is what scripted the early part of the Siraj narrative. And now, it’s the Boxing day Test once more that could complete his redemption. He hasn’t been his usual self this series, and as a result, Jasprit Bumrah has lacked the support he so badly needs. India need Siraj, and the time is now.
With Siraj, you always get 100 percent. That’s him. He might lose, but in terms of effort, there will never be any less push. And that’s what makes him special. He draws our attention to the fact that there is so much more to sport than winning or losing. That one team will win on a given day, and one will lose despite their best efforts, is only a surface reality. What is at times more important than winning or losing, the stuff that we don’t often see, may well convey the true significance of sport. The success of Siraj is such a story.
Here is a young man from Hyderabad who lost his father but was unable to come back to his family. In grief, he was trying to bring smiles to millions of faces with his teammates cheering him on in Australia. He wasn’t Muslim or Hindu. He was Indian. This was the India of our dreams turning into reality. This was an India of hope, and an India that dared to dream. Siraj isn’t the most eloquent. He need not be. What he is and will be is what our country is all about. Hard work and more hard work, with dignity and integrity, and the realisation that such effort does pay off.
Siraj is the perfect underdog story, which we so identify with in India, and that’s what makes him relevant. He has failed on multiple occasions in the past, just like so many of us have. But he dared to push and eventually win. Can he do it again? A little more discipline and self-restraint, and he can indeed win the battle in Melbourne. And if Siraj can, we can.
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