The Indian fast bowler, Mohammed Siraj, playing his 2nd Test match for India, became the talk of the town even before the start of play in Sydney on Thursday. With 5/77 on his debut, Siraj witnessed a promising start to his Test career in Melbourne, but amidst all the celebrations, Siraj went through personal grief and he couldn’t help but exhibit a burst of emotions during the national anthem on Day 1 of the third Test in Sydney.
Siraj, who drew the first blood for India by dismissing David Warner, was seen in tears during the national anthem and the fast bowler has now revealed the reason why he was crying. The 26-year-old remembered his late father and suddenly tears burst out of his eye during an emotional moment.
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Talking about the incident, a virtual press conference, Mohammed Siraj said, “I remembered my dad during the national anthem, it was very emotional. My dad always wanted me to play Test cricket. If he were here today, he would have seen me playing for India.”
Mohammed Siraj on why he got so emotional while the National Anthem was being played at the SCG.#TeamIndia #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/zo0Wc8h14A
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 7, 2021
After two dropped catches of Will Pucovksi, by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, it was Indian debutant Navdeep Saini who finally got the wicket of the Australian debutant. Had it not been for the dropped catches, even Siraj would’ve had Pucovski way before he actually was dismissed.
Talking about the dropped catch, Siraj said, “When we played a practice game against Australia A, we bowled short balls to Pucovski then also, we were seeing that Pucovski was not keen on leaving the ball, he was going after it, so we had a plan of bowling short balls to him, but our main focus was bowling good line and length to him.”
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He further added, “It (catches being dropped) is a part of the game, bowlers do get upset. But these things happen and one can only get focused on the next ball. The wicket is good, we were just planning on creating pressure, it’s an easy wicket, our bouncers were also not that effective.”
