Happy Birthday Mohammed Siraj: Here are 5 interesting trivia about India's rising pace sensation
Mohammed Siraj hails from Hyderabad and is a decent pace bowler. He made his Test debut in Australia and has been a sensation ever since, while he has also represented the side in ODIs and T20Is previously. He plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj is one of the fast-rising pace sensations and has dramatically impacted the side in the longest format. Having made his Test debut in Australia, he has since been on a roll during India's successful Border-Gavaskar Trophy outing in January.
Having previously represented the side in the limited-overs format, he failed to make a relative impact. Meanwhile, he is celebrating his 27th birthday on Saturday. In the same light, we take a look at six of his interesting trivia.
Gully boy
No, we are not talking about the famous Bollywood movie here. Still, an intriguing fact about Siraj is that he never went to a cricket academy to learn and refine his bowling skills, owing to the financial crunch in his lower-middle-class family. In contrast, he knew it all and gathered valuable experiences by playing gully cricket in Khaja Nagar of Hyderabad.
₹500
Every cricketer begins to earn something at a stage. As for Siraj, it all started with ₹500. During a club cricket competition, he claimed nine wickets in a game and earned the said prize money for his Man of the Match performance.
Rise to fame
It was during the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy when he had a dream season in domestic cricket. Playing for Hyderabad, he claimed 41 wickets during the entire season at an average of 18.92, thus finishing as the side's highest wicket-taker.
IPL calling
Following his incredible domestic season in 2016-17, during the 2017 Indian Premier League auction, he was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad for ₹2 crore, as he claimed ten wickets in six matches. However, during the 2018 mega-auction, he was picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore and has since been associated with the side.
Bettering Javagal Srinath
During his Test debut in Australia, he tremendously impacted and scalped 13 wickets in six innings. As a result, he became the highest wicket-taker in a debut Test series Down Under, going past the previous record-holder Javagal Srinath, who had claimed ten during the 1991-92 tour.
Kick start with BMW
Following his prolific outing in Australia and the considerable cash-prize he received from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Siraj splashed it in the best manner. He went on to own a BMW car.