Siraj’s international debut: Reveals how Kohli made it easy for him last year

Dixit Bhargav | 01/10/2018
Siraj's international debut

Siraj’s international debut: Mohammed Siraj makes public how Kohli aided him ahead of his international debut last year.

Mohammed Siraj, who made his T20I debut against New Zealand last year, has now been included in India’s Test team to take on West Indies in the upcoming home series. Siraj, 24, has been rewarded for his consistent performance in the domestic circuit and while representing India A.

Most recently, Siraj had registered career-best First-class bowling figures of 19.3-7-59-8 against Australia A. It was on the back of this and other clinical performances that he was named in the Test side.

Talking about his maiden Test call-up in an interview with Times of India, Siraj was quoted, “It is a dream come true for me. I wanted to represent my country in Tests and knew I will be able to impress the selectors someday. I am so happy. I have done well for India A recently and had an idea about my selection in the Test team.”

Siraj had made his T20I debut under Virat Kohli and if he sneaks into the playing eleven in this series, his Test debut would also happen under Kohli. Siraj expressed approval of captain Kohli, stating that he had motivated him to a large extent before the match against New Zealand.

“When I was selected for T20Is against New Zealand last year, I had a chat with Kohli bhai. I was nervous. He said ‘Tension mat le, ground pe baat karenge. Bas ready reh kal khelne ke liye’ (Don’t worry, we will talk on the field. Just be ready for your debut match)”, Siraj added.

Upon meeting at the ground, Kohli once again eased Siraj’s nerves, making the rookie bowlers extremely comfortable and taking all the pressure away from him. “When I hit the field, he said… I have seen your game. Just go and bowl the way you have been. Don’t experiment. He took away the pressure. I was delighted after dismissing New Zealand captain Kane Williamson to claim my first international wicket”, Siraj further said.

Earlier, Siraj had revealed as to how former India captain and current wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s advice aided him to step up his game.

Below are some of the recent Twitter reactions on Siraj:

 

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
India mohammad siraj Virat Kohli

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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