Mohammed Siraj had a most dramatic entry to India's Test squad. And the moment he got the opportunity, he grabbed it by both the hands and delivered when India needed him the most amid adversity which also scripted his meteoric rise.
Siraj, World no.2 ODI bowler, made his Test debut back in 2020 when India was in the most precarious situation as they suffered a nightmarish defeat at the hands of Australia in the opening match of the Test series in Adelaide. Team India were bowled out for a paltry 36 in the second innings and were flattened by nine wickets. With India's pride at stake, the batting juggernaut Virat Kohli had to leave the side in lurch for personal reason which saw Ajinkya Rahane taking over India's captaincy charge for the rest of the matches. Mohammed Shami's injury during India's adversity, paved the path for Siraj's entry in India's playing XI in the following Test against Australia.
However, Siraj had to wait a bit to bowl his first over in Test as Rahane first brought his ace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja into the attack first.
Three years later Siraj walked down the memory lane and in a conversation with popular sports commentator and anchor Gaurav Kapur for his Youtube show ‘Breakfast with Campions’ made a shocking admission that at that time he thought whether he was called as Virat Kohli's replacement as he didn't get to bowl a single ball in the first session of the second Test match.
"First session toh main bowling kia nahi [I didn't bowl a single over in the first session]. Idhar se pehle Jassi Bhai aur Umesh Bhai ne daale first Ash Bhai aur Jaddu Bhai aa gaye [Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav started the proceedings then Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja got their chances]. Toh maine socha kya main Virat bhai ka replacement hoon [Then I started thinking whether I am a replacement of Virat Kohli],” Siraj said.
"Break mai Ajju Bhai ne bola ‘Miyan' ek end se tujhe hi daalna hai ab [During the break, Ajinkya Rahane came to me and said you only have to bowl from one end now onwards]," he further added.
Siraj put up a show with his extraordinary bowling when India's chips were down and was team's highest wicket-taker in the series with 17 scalps in three matches and played an instrumental role in India's historic 2-1 victory.
Siraj has been unstoppable since then and emerged as India's one of the best bowlers across all formats.
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