'Only believe in Miyan Bhai...'- This line was heard from Indian cricket fans after the Test series against England. Siraj had led India's pace attack on foreign soil in Bumrah's absence, and also took the most number of wickets.
This time, the Indian team management has placed its trust in him for the Australia tour. But Siraj's journey to this spotlight was not easy. Despite good performances, he was repeatedly left out and didn't even get the opportunity for workload management. When in poor form, he had to face terrible trolling.
However, he turned around his fortune following former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's advice. Siraj recently opened up about this. He shared that unknown story in an interview. Siraj says, 'During IPL, I had to face something terrible. I wasn't in good form then. So, I had to face very bad trolling. Sometimes fans say there's no bowler like Siraj. Again, when I fail to perform, the same people say go and drive an ‘auto’ with your father. How is it possible like this?'
At one point, Siraj broke down under this pressure. That's when a pep talk from Dhoni brought about a complete change. After joining the Indian team, Siraj received a message from then-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who advised him to focus on performance without worrying about what others were saying.
Dhoni said, “Don't listen to anyone. When you play well, the whole world will be with you. But when you're in bad form, they will criticize you.”
Even though he's in the spotlight now, Siraj said he prefers to keep his feet on the ground.
