People Said Quit Cricket, Drive Autos With Father: Siraj Recalls IPL 2019
Mumbai: Mohammed Siraj, who’s been retained by RCB for IPL 2022, has said he thought his IPL career was over after the 2019 season. In the nine matches he played for RCB in 2019, Siraj took seven wickets and conceded runs at an economy rate of 9.55.
In the game against KKR, Siraj conceded 36 runs in 2.2 overs and was taken out of the attack by two beamers.
“2019 was so bad with RCB that I thought it was the end of my IPL career. But then I realized that I still age. So I decided to put some faith in myself and thankfully the RCB management also supported me. I almost thought any franchise in his position would let a bowler go after that kind of performance, but he backed me, and then the 2020 game against KKR was a life-changing game for me,” Siraj said on the ‘RCB Podcast’
“When I bowled those two beamers against KKR, people said, ‘Quit cricket and go back and drive auto with your father’. There were so many comments like this. And people don’t see the struggle behind all this but I remember when I was picked earlier how MS Dhoni told me not to listen to what people have to say about me. ‘You do well today and they will praise you and people will abuse you when you don’t. So never take it seriously. And yes, the same people who trolled me incessantly back then say ‘you’re the best bowler bhai’. So, I know. I don’t want anybody’s opinion. I’m the same Siraj I was back then,” he added.
Siraj was called up in the India Test squad for the 2020-21 Australia series after a decent run for RCB in IPL 2020. In the season, Siraj also became the first bowler in the history of the tournament to bowl two maiden overs.
“Virat Kohli said something to me that I will never forget. After returning from Australia, he said, Miyan, well bowled, what you’ve done in Australia is unbelievable. Nobody will be able to forget what you have done there. Keep at it and keep your focus on fitness and keep putting in the hard work,” said Siraj.
Siraj is one of the three players to be retained by RCB for IPL 2022. The other two players are Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell. The mega auction ahead of IPL 2022 will be held in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
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