He is one of the great stories of our times. In fact, it isn’t wrong to say each time we see Mohammed Siraj run in and pick up wickets for India, each of us starts to feel good about sport. Here is someone who is all effort. Even if there is a dropped catch off his bowling, all you will see Siraj do is smile. His effort in trying to save the boundary off his own bowling when there were no fielders at mid-on, with half the side standing in the slip cordon, was proof of what Siraj is all about. He just started running the moment he realised there wasn’t anyone there to stop the ball. And he kept running. Even when the ball had won the race, Siraj did not stop smiling. In fact, within seconds, he was back at the top of his mark ready to bowl the next delivery. Having bowled the most defining white-ball spell of his career, he won India the Asia Cup and yet he isn’t fully satisfied. His tweet, that he needs to learn a lot more, is proof of his hunger and commitment.
Having studied cricket for a living, it isn’t wrong to say one of my favourite picture-postcard moments was when Siraj was handed the Indian flag at the Gabba in January 2021 and asked to lead the Indian victory lap. The entire team followed him and in that one instant, cricket became the symbol of the India of our dreams. Siraj at the Gabba had ceased to be a Muslim or a Hindu. His religion did not matter. He had been appropriated by the vision of Indianness that we all believe in and credit must go to the entire team for giving us that moment to cherish. They had demonstrated to one and all their secular credentials and the ideals they believed in. Last night, the scenes were similar in Colombo. Siraj was at the centre of the Indian imagination as he ran through Sri Lanka and won Rohit Sharma the Asia Cup. With Jasprit Bumrah back at his best and with Siraj stepping up, Rohit will start to believe he has the bowling to mount a serious challenge at the World Cup.
Here is a young man from Hyderabad who lost his father in November 2020 but was unable to come back to his family because he was bringing smiles to million of faces with his illustrious teammates cheering him on. Siraj is not the toxic India that plays out every day on national television at 9pm. Not the India deeply divided by privilege and deprivation. Siraj represents an India of hope and an India that dares 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 such efforts do pay off. It did on Sunday evening at the Premadasa, and how.
This Asia Cup has been the making of Siraj the white-ball cricketer. With the World Cup just weeks away, it is a huge opportunity for him now to take up the mantle of being India’s go-to man alongside Bumrah. “Everyone wants to play a World Cup for the country,” said Siraj when asked this question. “I am no different and will do all I can. When you play for your country, you want to do well, and when it is the World Cup, it is like a dream.”
It happened with Siraj in Test cricket in Melbourne in December 2020. From nowhere, he turned into India’s go-to bowler, and hasn’t looked back since.
Sachin Tendulkar put it nicely when he said, “What I like about him is the energy he brings to the fore. Be it the first ball or the last ball of the day, he will run in with the same energy.”
Siraj, may I say, is the perfect underdog story, which we so identify with in India, and that’s what makes him so much more relevant. Siraj has failed on multiple occasions in the past, just like so many of us have. But he dared to push and eventually win. Can’t we all do the same? A little more discipline and self-restraint, and we could indeed win our own little battles. If Siraj can, we can. That’s the backstage lesson we need to imbibe.
Siraj for me is the embodiment of all that is good about sport. More than winning or losing, sport is about values. It is a life lesson. Siraj has placed his country above all else, and in doing so, has fulfilled the wishes of his late father. And his new-found stardom has not changed him. In a matter of months, his world changed. All of a sudden, he had it all. Money, fame, and the media glare were all knocking on his doorstep.
But Siraj the person didn’t change. “Aap record kar lijiye kyunki uske bad hum sab ek saath bait ke khana khayenge [You please record, because after that I will sit down with everyone and eat],” he had said to me after returning home from Australia. He was still a 26-year-old son and brother excited to come home and have a home-cooked meal. The manner in which he gave away his man-of-the-match prize money to the ground staff at the Premadasa Stadium was another illustration of his character and values.
Siraj is the story of modern India and all that is good about it. He is the perfect example of dreams turning into reality and proof of what Indian cricket is capable of.
Can it happen for Siraj again in October-November? Can he be Rohit’s go-to man in the most important tournament of his life? While it won’t be easy, few will want to bet against Siraj knowing the effort he will put in. In my case, Siraj will be one of the players I will be keen on following and supporting. For, as I said, he stands for all that is goo
d about India.