OPINION
Follow UsIt was nearly exactly four years ago that the world got its first sight of Mohammed Siraj at the international level.
Having endured an electrifying debut IPL season with Sunrisers Hyderabad, where his adrenalizing pace and unceasing energy made him stand out, Siraj was called-up for the T20Is against New Zealand as India continued their search for a third seamer who could compliment Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar.
As is always the case when a young and fiery fast bowler is picked, there was plenty of buzz. There was no shortage of hype either. Given Siraj’s domestic and IPL credentials up until that point, it was all completely justified.
But what ought to have been his special day instead ended up turning into a traumatic one, the scars of which would end up taking years to heal.
Siraj’s very first ball in international cricket was flayed to the boundary by Colin Munro, and that turned out to be a sign of things to come. Across his next 23 balls, the then 24-year-old conceded 7 more boundaries to finish with figures of 1/53, following which he never bowled a delivery again in the series.
This horror evening in Rajkot, though, was just the beginning of a series of heart-crushing nights on a cricket field with the white-ball in hand.
In the next six months he played two more T20Is, across which he combinedly conceded 95 runs. In the second of those two games, against Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy, Siraj conceded 50 off his 4, and his spell almost single-handedly cost India the game.
Needless to say, he was dropped again.
And that night in Colombo, incidentally, is to date his last ever T20 International for the country.
But it doesn’t end here. Siraj’s woes were not exclusive to international cricket.
After a middling IPL 2018, he hit rock-bottom as a bowler in IPL 2019, where he was essentially reduced to a meme. Once the most exciting fast-bowling prospect in the country, Siraj, in IPL 2019, became notorious for being a punching bag at the death overs. And that was all the keyboard warriors needed to pounce.
He was mocked, laughed at, trolled, abused, and was, in the worst way imaginable, the primary source of entertainment for those on the internet.
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In two days’ time, after a three-year hiatus, Siraj, in all likelihood, will be bowling for India in a T20 international again.
And right before he bowls his first ball, the graphic below next to him will display the following: Matches 3, Wickets 3, Economy 12.33.
At the same time, you will also find the following in our Twitter account as a #QuickByte - “Among bowlers to have delivered 12 or more overs in T20I history, Mohammed Siraj’s ER of 12.3 is the second-worst in history, behind Botswana’s Dimpho Kegasitswe.”
But rest assured that the Siraj who will be steaming in to bowl to the New Zealand batters will be a completely different bowler to the one who was responsible for racking up those hideous figures next to his name.
That Siraj who wilted under pressure, who was overawed by the occasion, who longed for confidence and who struggled to win over fans is long-gone.
In action in two days’ time will be Mohammed Siraj 2.0, the reborn version of him, who is as confident bowling with the white ball as any other bowler in the country.
For all the talk about how under-confident the ‘old Siraj’ was, he was still a mighty impressive red-ball bowler. In his first 20 first-class matches, Siraj had taken 97 wickets at 18.92 and it was the kind of start that earnt him a maiden India Test call-up in 2018.
But with the white-ball, for some reason, despite possessing the skill to succeed, lack of confidence plagued him and he often found himself on the wrong side of things.
Everything, however, changed after his extended stint with the Test side, which proved to be career-turning for the 27-year-old.
Even in IPL 2020 there were hints that Siraj, if he gets it right, can be a devastating presence with the white-ball - such as his spell versus Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi where he took 3/8 off 4 overs and blew away KKR's batting line-up on his own.
But the nine Tests he played with the senior side finally gave Siraj the sense of belonging he was yearning for. And in IPL 2021 he showed just how good he can be with the white-ball too when he is oozing confidence.
Come Wednesday, should he play, it will be this ultra-confident version of Siraj that New Zealand will be up against.
In 2017, the Kiwis targeted Siraj across phases, realizing he was vulnerable regardless of where he bowled.
But things couldn’t be more different this time around, for there is no phase where the right-armer does not enjoy bowling.
Since IPL 2020, Siraj has been an absolute gun with the new ball. He has taken 11 wickets in the phase - only Boult, Nortje and Deepak Chahar have more - and he has an exceptional average of 26.9.
What has put him in the top echelon of new-ball bowlers, however, is the discipline with which he’s bowled. Siraj’s ER of 6.6 in overs 1-6 since last season is bettered by only two other seamers, Sandeep Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
The biggest change in Siraj’s bowling in the shortest format, though, is just how effective he’s become at the death. Remember how he was a punching bag for the batters at the death two years ago? Well, that is no longer the case.
In IPL 2021, Siraj bowled 15 overs at the death (overs 16-20). Remarkably, no bowler boasted of a better dot percentage than his 41.1%, and his ER of 7.5 was joint-best alongside Jasprit Bumrah.
His mantra was to ‘go full and go straight’ - a very high risk approach - but that he backed himself to nail it should itself serve as a testament to the surge in his self-belief and confidence.
What we witnessed in IPL 2021 was an evolved, mature, complete, hungrier and more passionate version of Siraj. It is a version that he is yet to display at the international level in white-ball cricket, but there's a sense of inevitability about the world witnessing it in the days to come. Time will tell if it indeed does happen, but for now, it feels like a matter of 'when' more than 'if'.
Siraj’s T20I career has come full circle
In many ways, for Siraj, life has come full circle.
Four years ago, the Kiwis ruined the first chapter in his T20I book. They almost nipped his T20I career in the bud.
But as the BlackCaps now set sights on starting a new chapter in their own story, looking ahead to the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, perhaps it’s time for Siraj to return the favor.
