Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 186 off their 20 overs. So, close to 9.5 an over, which by every yardstick was a healthy scoring rate in Hyderabad. In a match where the batting team scored at such a rate, Mohammed Siraj conceded 17 off his four overs. An economy rate of 4.25, to be exact. And this was not the first time that Siraj has done so this IPL. Time and again, he has stepped up for RCB. He has run in hard, picked up wickets at important times and been the go-to man for Faf Du Plessis right through the season.
Siraj, as I have said on multiple occasions, is one of my favourite cricketers. With him, it is all effort. Flat out each time he is handed the ball. And over time, he has gotten better. More mature and polished. He can now mesh skill with clever thinking, and is more often than not a wicket-taker both at the start and at the death.
His improvement over the years can be attributed to immense hard work. Dedication and commitment to his cause. And that’s why we had said in an earlier piece that over-aggression doesn’t really suit him. He is much better than that, and has enough ability to dominate even in good batting conditions. If RCB do go on to make the play-offs, Siraj, together with Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Virat Kohli, deserves maximum credit.
So why is it that we like Siraj so much? What endears him to many? How is he different from others?
Sample this. The Indian team had just returned home victorious from Australia in January 2021, and every media professional in the country was keen to speak to the boys. Siraj, needless to say, was the prize interview. Calls to him were going unanswered, and it was important that we managed to speak to him as soon as possible to better understand and celebrate his story. That’s when R Sridhar, the team’s fielding coach, came to the rescue. Sridhar and Siraj had both travelled to Hyderabad together, and when Sridhar picked up the call, it was only natural that we asked him to connect us to Siraj. Always helpful, Sridhar did so without any further debate. We had our man.
Siraj had just reached home, and looked exhausted. While the video-call connection wasn’t the best, we could see that he was sitting on the floor with his suitcase open and things strewn all over. Back home after months, it was a very emotional moment for him and the family. “Abhi thodi der pehle ghar pahucha, mein [I just got home a little while ago],” he said to us with a smile. “Main graveyard gaya tha pitaji se milne, isi liye der huwa [I’d gone to the graveyard to meet my father, that’s why I was late],” he added, his voice betraying his grief.
All of a sudden, the interview had turned very different. Here was a cricketer who was also a son and a brother. He had been thousands of miles away when his father passed, and the first thing he did on landing in India was go to the graveyard to pay his last respects. “Wo agar aaj rehte to bahut khush hote [If he was here today, he would be very happy],” Siraj said with a smile that could hardly conceal his feelings.
It was important that we changed the context of the interview, and made him feel better. ‘So, what did your mother tell you when she first saw you?’ we asked him. ‘Have you shown her the ball with which you picked up your first fifer?’ was the follow up, to distract him a little. It worked, and Siraj was up in a flash.
The glittering gold chain round his neck jangling, he was all excited. “Yes, I have the ball here only,” he said, and started searching for it. “And I will keep it with me always.” Thereafter, what he did was pure innocence. “Aap baat karte rahiye [You keep talking],” he said to us and started searching for the ball. The suitcase was literally overturned before our eyes, and when he figured out that the ball wasn’t there, he disappeared for a few seconds. On his return, he had a beaming smile on his face. “Yeh dekhiye [Look at this],” he said, showing off the ball. “Maine is pe sab likh ke rakha hai [I have written everything on this].”
The ball had the date, venue and his bowling figures inscribed on it, the handiwork of Sridhar as we were later told. “Yes, it was important we did that for him,” said Sridhar. “This moment will not come back ever again, and the ball will be a reminder of what he had achieved against all odds.”
In that one moment, Siraj was the embodiment of all that is good about sport. More than winning or losing, sport is about values. It is a life lesson, and that’s what makes sport what it is. Will Siraj keep a few more balls from this IPL to show his mother? Can he do it for RCB, and retain the ball as a prized possesion? The manner in which he is bowling, there is reason to believe he can. Ahead of the WTC final, Siraj and Mohammed Shami give us hope that India will have enough with the ball to push Australia. If the batting unit steps up, we could well have a classic Test match.
Also Read: Kohli Blasts RCB Home, After Klaasen Special