India pacer Mohammed Siraj had made his India Test debut on the tour of Australia in 2020-21 in the Melbourne Test match, the second of the four-match series under strenuous and personally draining circumstances.
It was the time when the COVID pandemic was at its peak and India was in a tough bio-bubble in Australia for the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Series. Siraj had landed in Australia with the Test squad and received the sad news of his father’s demise back in India.
The BCCI offered Siraj to fly back to India to participate in the funeral, but that would have meant leaving the tour and it would have been very difficult for him to go back into Australia due to travel restrictions.
Therefore, he stayed back, and the whole Indian team rallied around him and supported him during this tough time.
The Hyderabad fast bowler has now revealed that then-head coach Ravi Shastri helped him get through the tough phase when he was depressed and shattered after his father’s death.
"When my dad passed away, then Ravi sir supported me. He came up to me and said 'see Miyan, your dad would have wanted you to take five wickets on this tour. I was very emotional, depressed and shattered. I couldn't understand what was going on. We were under hard quarantine," Siraj told Boria Majumdar on his show 'Backstage with Boria'.
He further added: "I couldn't figure what to do – should I have flown back home or stay here and fulfill dad's dream. Then I thought that had I gone back, I would have had to undergo quarantine there as well. So I thought it would be better to continue being in Australia and fulfil my father's dream.
My dad's dream made me strong during that time. I totally was lost. Due to quarantine rules, being in one room was all we could do. But I still remember, that it was what also made me tough and gave me the strength to deal with everything."
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He picked five wickets in his debut Test at the MCG, a match that India won, and then led the Indian pace attack in the fourth Test in Brisbane with the series on the line. He picked his maiden Test five-wicket haul in that match and helped India win the Test match as well.
"In Melbourne, when I stepped onto the ground, it felt like a dream. People have always said the Boxing Day Test in MCG is huge, and I was part of it. Being part of it and receiving your Test cap was a dream. I couldn’t measure my emotions and then I kept thinking that had my father been there, how happy he would have been," added Siraj.
