Indian fast bowler Mohammad Siraj said his father was a car driver, who used to pay him just 60 rupees a day to go to Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad. Siraj used to go there to learn matches. Siraj was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) ahead of the mega auction along with Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and former captain Virat Kohli. He said on the RCB podcast on Friday that the IPL brought him fame and taught him to live in a social circle.
He said, “When I used to go to the stadium to practice, my family struggled a lot during that time. I only had a Platina (motorcycle). Dad used to give me 60 rupees for gas. I used those rupees. I used to manage to get to the stadium, which was far from my house”.
Siraj further said, “When I was selected for IPL, the family’s money problems ended. The father stopped driving cars. The mother stopped doing housework. We stopped living in a rented house… We bought a house new during that time. I don’t want anything else in life. I just wanted to see my parents happy. IPL gave me fame, it allowed me to stay in the social circle by meeting and talking to so many people. It teaches the methods. I learned a lot from IPL.” .
Sharing an anecdote, Siraj recalled an incident where then RCB captain Virat Kohli said he would be unable to attend the dinner held at his residence due to injury. But a few minutes later, Siraj saw Kohli get out of his car and surprised him.
He further said: “I invited all the RCB team players to dinner at my house. I went straight home from the hotel. When I called Virat Kohli, he said: ‘I have a stiff back, I can’t come.’ all the players, I saw Virat get out of the car too. Everyone was there. Parthiv Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, I didn’t see anyone there. I just ran to Virat and hugged him. It’s most of my life, it was a good surprise.