How Mohamed Siraj dealt with the grief of losing his father while playing for India

Mohammed Siraj has become one of India’s key bowlers in Test cricket, but his journey to the top hasn’t been easy. Before his Test debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in 2020, the pacer suffered a personal tragedy as his father passed away due to an illness. Siraj was stuck in a strict COVID-19 bio-bubble in Australia, and could not return home for the last rites.

How Siraj dealt with his father's demise

Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun, who is credited with Siraj's rise, recently revealed that the pacer was left alone in his hotel room after the personal loss, with only the team manager allowed to visit him following special permissions. Arun also revealed that he offered Siraj a chance to return to India, but he wanted to stay and make his red-ball debut to fulfil his late father's dream.

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“It was the five-star jail. The manager was the only one to go. He got special permission, but none of us could visit him. It was really tough. We spoke a lot on the phone. We spoke on WhatsApp calls. But that was it. There's nothing like human touch. Shoulder to cry on, at that point, would have meant a lot to Siraj, but there was no shoulder to cry on,” Arun told Bombay Sport Exchange.

“He got on a video call, and I spoke to him, then we asked him, ‘Would you like to go back?’ Ravi told me that it is so far away, so what can be done now? Siraj then told me that it was his father's dream to watch him play Tests. He said, ‘I will stay here.’ I thought that was outstanding,” he added.

Siraj’s resilience paid off and became one of the standout performers of the series, taking 13 wickets in six innings, including a five-wicket haul in the final Test at the Gabba. Since then, he has continued to impress in the longest format, leading India’s attack in the absence of senior bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

He recently shone in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with 23 wickets and finishing as the top wicket-taker. Siraj helped India win the final Test at The Oval and level the series 2-2. He picked up a five-wicket haul on the last day of the fifth Test and won the Player of the Match award.