NEW DELHI: For Mohammed Siraj, visiting his father’s grave before and after cricket tour is a special routine. Before leaving for any tournament, he goes to his father’s grave to pray and seek blessings. And when he returns, he goes straight there from the airport before going home.Siraj lost his father, Mohammed Ghouse, in 2021 while he was on tour to Australia. Since then, this ritual has helped him stay connected to his father, who was an auto-rickshaw driver and played a huge role in supporting Siraj’s dream of becoming a cricketer.
Before leaving for England in June, Siraj packed his bags, hugged his mother, and told her, “Ammi, mere liye dua karna. Main achha karun aur India ko jitau [Mom, pray for me. I want to do well and win for India].” As per ritual, he then went to his father’s grave to pray before heading to the airport.
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“Apne abbu se bahot pyar karta hai [Siraj loves his father dearly]. And his father loved him just as much — he would have done anything for him. My prayers are always with Siraj. May Allah bless my bachha with success in everything,” his mother Shabana Begum told TimesofIndia.com.Shabana never misses a match when Siraj is playing. She watched every game of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, clapping, cheering, and offering five prayers every day. In Islam, these daily prayers happen at dawn (Fajr), noon (Dhuhr), afternoon (Asr), sunset (Maghrib), and night (Isha). She didn’t miss a single one during the England tour.Her prayers seemed to be with him throughout. Siraj played a key role in India’s dramatic win in the fifth Test at The Oval, helping level the series 2-2.
Mohammed Siraj won the Player of the Match at The Oval in the fifth Test between England and India.
“Ammi always prays for bhai. There’s a lot of power in a mother’s prayer. I believe it’s because of both our parents’ blessings that he’s in a good space and doing well for India. He video calls Ammi every day to get her blessings. She always tells him, ‘Hamesha tarakki kar, naam roshan kar’ (Keep growing, make us proud),” said his brother, Mohammed Ismail.Ismail added, “Abbu used to say, ‘Beta, ek din tujhe bahut naam kamana hai. India ke liye khelna hai.’ When he passed away during the Australia tour, Siraj was shattered. But Ammi told him, ‘Jo ho gaya, so ho gaya. Ab game pe dhyan do (What’s done is done, now focus on your game).’”Siraj was in Australia when Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri gave him the heartbreaking news. Emotionally broken, Siraj found strength through his teammates and responded by becoming India’s highest wicket-taker in the series, claiming 13 wickets in three Tests, including a five-wicket haul — a tribute to the man who believed in him the most.SIRAJ – A WORKHORSE
Where the focus had been on Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management and fact that he would play three Tests, Mohammed Siraj largely flew under the radar in that department.Since 2020, Siraj is the player with most matches played for India – more than Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, R Ashwin and even Bumrah.ALSO READ | Mohammed Siraj: A warrior, who never stopped believingAs Bumrah played three Tests, as planned, Siraj bowled his heart out, regularly hitting the right areas, troubling batters, beating batters, getting edges, close LBW calls, elicit “ohhs” and “aaahs” from the crowd, and, as the fifth Test was evidence, kept the fans on the edge of their seats.Siraj bowled 1113 balls (185.3 overs) in the series – the most by any bowler.Siraj signed off the England Test series as the highest wicket-taker with 23 wickets.
Mohammed Siraj with his late father. (Image: Special Arrangement)
“Abbu ke liye khelna hai, unka sapna jiyunga main. That’s what Siraj always says. Fitness is on another level for him now. And it is all because of Virat Kohli. He takes a lot of inspiration from Virat. He is more than his elder brother. The aggression and hunger, he has taken from Virat,” Ismail said.“In 2018, Siraj had a terrible IPL season. A lot of questions were raised, but at that time, Virat bhaia stood by him and supported him. He knew what qualities Siraj had. He backed Siraj and gave a lot of chances to him at both RCB and in the India team. All the credit goes to Virat bhaia. There have been times when Siraj has confessed that he owes his career to Virat bhai. And that’s absolutely true. He was fond of biryani, and now he eats it – and that too, rarely – after getting some pep talk from Virat bhaia,” he said.“Siraj is a different player now. After not being picked in the ICC Champions Trophy, Siraj was upset. Really upset. He was heartbroken. But he became a different person. He started practicing more and more. There was some hard training and a strict regime involved then. Now, the results are in front of us. That gap between the Champions Trophy and the IPL gave him a lot of time to train both mentally and physically. That period did him a lot of good. He then played the IPL and performed well, and now in England, he is the highest wicket-taker,” the brother said.BIG RONALDO FANAfter India’s thrilling win at The Oval, Siraj revealed that on the morning of the match, he downloaded a picture of football star Cristiano Ronaldo. The image had the word “Believe” written on it — and that single word became Siraj’s source of motivation as he went on to play a key role in India’s historic win.Siraj’s admiration for Ronaldo is no secret. Taking a wicket and celebrating with Ronaldo’s iconic “Siuuu” celebration has become his trademark.“He has big posters of Ronaldo in his room. We live in a penthouse, and he’s even built a mini-theatre there where he watches Ronaldo’s matches. He never misses a single one. All we hear is his cheering and shouting whenever Ronaldo is playing,” Siraj’s brother Ismail signed off.
