Former India pacer Ashish Nehra hailed Mohammed Siraj as a bowler with hunger and skillset, saying that the pacer has made the most of the opportunities he has gotten so far.
Mohammed Siraj arguably has been one of the best finds for India this year in the longest format of the game. The pacer made his Test debut for the country in Australia this year.
It didn’t take him long to assert his authority as he in the absence of senior pacers took the responsibility and ended the series as the highest wicket-taker for his side with 12 wickets to his name and then also took 14 wickets in England in four Tests.
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Having performed well in Test cricket since making his debut and being high on confidence, Mohammed Siraj carried his form in the white-ball format as well. He performed reasonably well for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021 both at the start and at the death and was retained by the franchise ahead of IPL 2022.
In an interaction on Cricbuzz, Ashish Nehra said that he has seen Mohammed Siraj from his early days in IPL with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Nehra said that he always felt that the Hyderabad pacer had the skills to bowl fast and swing the ball at that pace.
"He was with me at RCB when I was the coach. He also was in the team when I was at SunRisers Hyderabad. I always knew that he had the skills. Talking about the skillset, it also depends on the player... how he hones his skills and fitness levels.
“He had the pace, swing, and an athletic body too. We see many players doing the rounds of the NCA and visiting the physios after struggling with fitness. But Siraj wasn't that sort of a player. He stepped into the IPL after playing Ranji and has never looked back," Ashish Nehra said.
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Ashish Nehra said that Mohammed Siraj has made most of the opportunities provided to him as he’s mentally strong and has the hunger to play. He revealed that the pacer used to get upset when his name was not in the playing XI during IPL.
He added that at RCB the pacer eagerly waited to perform and get better with every match, which speaks volumes about his character.
"Siraj has made the most of it. He's mentally strong as well and has that hunger to play. He used to get upset when his name was not there in the XI. When he was at RCB, he would eagerly wait to perform and get better with every match. That speaks volumes about his character," he said.
Mohammad Siraj is currently playing the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Centurion.
(Cricbuzz inputs)
