Mohammed Siraj may have become one of the top-rated fast bowlers across formats but there was a time when his propensity to leak runs while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL could have resulted in him being dropped from the eleven itself. If it wasn’t for the backing that he received from the then RCB captain Virat Kohli, things may have turned out differently for Siraj.
Kohli might have not won a major trophy during his captaincy phase but the manner in which he led both India and RCB has left a deep impact.
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Siraj is one of the players who made his international debuts under Kohli but during his maiden outing in India colours, the pacer ended up leaking 53 runs in four overs although he took the big wicket of Kane Williamson.
He worked on his skills and with the support of someone like Kohli, emerged a vastly improved bowler, especially in white-ball cricket.
Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has revealed Siraj’s admiration for ‘elder brother’ Kohli whom the bowler looks for guidance apart from former India bowling coach Bharat Arun.
“Literally like an elder brother. I think he looks at him like a guiding light. In his tough times, Virat Kohli backed him and he really appreciates that,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz Special show Rise of New India.
He continued, “Under Kohli’s captaincy is when he came back in the team so he really values Virat as a very important person in his life. I think there are two people he really values a lot – Bharat Arun and Kohli. Because in his formative years for Hyderabad, Bharat Arun was the coach and he really guided him during those moments to achieve greatness and the good things. Bharat Arun has played a big factor. And Virat Kohli as someone who has captained him when he performed so well and been an important force in his life.”
It was Kohli who persisted with Siraj even during a phase in the latter’s IPL career when he was on the brink of being axed from the RCB playing eleven.
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“He (Siraj) has gone on to do so well for RCB in 2020 post pandemic when he just came through. He was about to be dropped but Virat Kohli backed him and said ‘I want him in the Playing XI’. And he had something to do with me because I was part of the KKR team that had gotten all out for less than 100. He picked up three wickets and won the Player of the Match. From there, his T20 career simply took off. He did really well and it is great to see somebody come from those strata of society have so much confidence and do so well in life. He has a great success story that a lot of people can draw inspiration from,” Karthik added.
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