Mohammed Siraj made his Test debut in the second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December 2020.
By the time the series came to end, he was the leader of the Indian bowling attack and bowled like one. All cricket fans would know that the youngster stayed with the Indian team despite his father's death back home just before the Australian series commenced.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke knows how difficult it is to continue playing cricket when a loved one is unwell. He couldn't see his father who was diagnosed with cancer due to his commitment to playing cricket and hence has a lot of respect for the 26-year-old Mohammed Siraj.
Clarke told Sports Today, "Look, I don’t think words can describe how much respect I have for him. To be able to go through that. I have been in a position where I was away playing cricket and my father got diagnosed with cancer but I decided not to go home. That was tough enough."
"But his father passed away and for him to choose to stay and help his team, to be honest, watching him bowl on that last day, you couldn't want him to take wickets. You wanted him to take a 5-wicket haul for everything he had gone through and sacrificed," he added.
Being an Australian, he definitely wanted his country to win the series but wanted the Indian pacer to perform well.
Clarke said, "I wanted Australia to win the game, of course, but I couldn’t be happier for a cricketer who put himself through what he has been through and shows his loyalty to that Indian cricket team. He deserves all the credit in the world."
(With inputs from India Today)
