Right-arm fast-medium bowler Mohammed Siraj is currently part of Team India against Australia in ICC WTC Final 2023. On Day 1, Siraj and Steve Smith’s video went viral where Siraj could be seen throwing the ball at stump as Steve moved away due to some issue with the spider cam. Netizens reacted to it and a user wrote, “Siraj got no chill.”
Steve Smith broke a record by jumping to the third spot in the list of most Test Hundreds for Australia only behind Ricky Ponting (41) and Steve Waugh (32)
Mohammed Siraj had recently featured in an episode of ‘Breakfast with Champions’ with Gaurav Kapur, where he recalled his tough journey from being born in Hyderabad to becoming a part of the Indian cricket team
Mohammed Siraj was born into an impoverished family in Hyderabad. His father worked as an auto-rickshaw driver while his mother used to clean houses. Siraj’s father wanted him to become an engineer and get a decent-paying job
Mohammed Siraj, whose sporting career began with ‘gully’ cricket, was later spotted by cricket coaches who motivated him to play for state-level matches. After a tough selection process, Siraj started playing cricket leagues in Hyderabad. He had to travel distances to play matches so he started using an old motorcycle
Mohammed Siraj further said on the show that, “My brother used to get Rs 100 as his pocket money and he used to give me Rs 70 every day, of which Rs 40 went towards petrol for the bike.” After months of playing, Siraj finally earned Rs 500
Mohammed Siraj used to play cricket with a tennis ball in the villages. He was forced to play cricket while wearing slippers as he had no money to buy shoes. Due to his great performance in the local matches, he got an offer to play in a tournament. This is when he was offered spikes for the first time in his life
Mohammed Siraj’s impressive performances in tennis-ball cricket led to his rapid inclusion in the Hyderabad side. But, he contracted dengue during an important U23 game. He did not give up and left the hospital to play the match. Surprisingly, he excelled in batting, bowling, and fielding
- First-class debut in 2015-16 Ranji trophy tournament
- Twenty20 debut in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
- Highest-wicket taker in 2016-17 Ranji Trophy
- Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for IPL 2017, in 2018 he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore
- In IPL 2020, he became first bowler in IPL to bowl back-to-back maiden overs in a single match
- In 2023, Siraj became No. 1 ODI bowler in ICC ODI Rankings for Bowlers
Team India is currently in London to play the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final under the leadership of Rohit Sharma against Pat Cummins-led Team Australia