Mohammed Siraj’s success story: Mother’s daily prayers, visit to late father’s grave before tours | Cricket News – Times of India

India cricketer Mohammed Siraj together with his mom and brother. (Image: Special Arrangement)

Cricketer Mohammaed Siraj together with his household. (Instagram)

India cricketer Mohammed Siraj together with his mom and brother. (Image: Special Arrangement)

Cricketer Mohammaed Siraj together with his household. (Instagram)

India cricketer Mohammed Siraj together with his mom and brother. (Image: Special Arrangement)

NEW DELHI: For Mohammed Siraj, visiting his father’s grave before and after cricket tour is a particular routine. Before leaving for any match, he goes to his father’s grave to pray and search blessings. And when he returns, he goes straight there from the airport before going house.Siraj misplaced his father, Mohammed Ghouse, in 2021 whereas he was on tour to Australia. Since then, this ritual has helped him keep related to his father, who was an auto-rickshaw driver and performed an enormous position in supporting Siraj’s dream of changing into a cricketer.

Before leaving for England in June, Siraj packed his luggage, hugged his mom, and advised 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.

“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 mom Shabana Begum advised TimesofIndia.com.Shabana by no means misses a match when Siraj is taking part in. She watched each sport of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, clapping, cheering, and providing 5 prayers every single day. In Islam, these daily prayers occur at daybreak (Fajr), midday (Dhuhr), afternoon (Asr), sundown (Maghrib), and evening (Isha). She didn’t miss a single one through the England tour.Her prayers appeared to be with him all through. Siraj performed a key position in India’s dramatic win within the fifth Test at The Oval, serving to stage the collection 2-2.

Mohammed Siraj gained the Player of the Match at The Oval within 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),” mentioned 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 information. Emotionally damaged, Siraj discovered power by his teammates and responded by changing into India’s highest wicket-taker within the collection, claiming 13 wickets in three Tests, together with a 5-wicket haul — a tribute to the person who believed in him probably the most.SIRAJ – A WORKHORSE

Where the main target had been on Jasprit Bumrah’s workload administration and proven fact that he would play three Tests, Mohammed Siraj largely flew beneath the radar in that division.Since 2020, Siraj is the participant with most matches performed for India – greater than Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, R Ashwin and even Bumrah.ALSO READ | Mohammed Siraj: A warrior, who by no means stopped believingAs Bumrah performed three Tests, as deliberate, Siraj bowled his coronary heart out, repeatedly hitting the precise areas, troubling batters, beating batters, getting edges, shut LBW calls, elicit “ohhs” and “aaahs” from the gang, and, because the fifth Test was proof, saved the followers on the sting of their seats.Siraj bowled 1113 balls (185.3 overs) within the collection – probably the most by any bowler.Siraj signed off the England Test collection as the best wicket-taker with 23 wickets.

Mohammed Siraj together 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 mentioned.“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 mentioned.“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 mentioned.BIG RONALDO FANAfter India’s thrilling win at The Oval, Siraj revealed that on the morning of the match, he downloaded an image of soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. The picture had the phrase “Believe” written on it — and that single phrase grew to become Siraj’s supply of motivation as he went on to play a key position in India’s historic win.Siraj’s admiration for Ronaldo is not any secret. Taking a wicket and celebrating with Ronaldo’s iconic “Siuuu” celebration has develop into 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.