Bengaluru: India pacer Mohammad Siraj has said that his father was an auto driver who used to pay him only Rs 60 a day to go to Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad. Siraj used to go there to learn matches. Siraj was retained by Indian Premier League (IPL) side Royal Challengers Bangalore along with Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and former captain Virat Kohli ahead of the mega auction. He said in the RCB podcast on Friday that the IPL brought him fame and taught him how to live in a social circle.
He said, “When I used to go to the stadium for practice, my family struggled a lot during that time. I only had a Platina (motorcycle). Dad used to give me Rs 60 for petrol. I used that Rs. Used to manage to reach the stadium, which was far away from my house.”
Siraj said, “When I was selected for IPL, the family’s money problems ended. Dad stopped driving auto, mother stopped doing housework, we stopped living in rented house , We bought a new house during that time. I don’t want anything else in life. I just needed to make my parents happy. IPL gave me fame, it made me social circle by meeting and talking to so many people Teach me how to live. I learned a lot from IPL.”
Sharing an anecdote, Siraj recalled an incident when the then RCB captain Virat Kohli had said that he would not be able to attend the dinner party held at his residence due to injury. But a few minutes later, Siraj saw Kohli getting down from his car and surprised him.
He said, “I had invited all the players of the RCB team for dinner at my home. I went straight home from the hotel. When I called Virat, he said, ‘I have a stiff back, I can’t come. ‘ But, when all the players came, I saw Virat also getting down from the car. Everybody was there, Parthiv Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, I didn’t see anyone there, I just ran towards Virat and hugged him. It’s my life. Was the best surprise.
first published:Feb. 18, 2022, 9:44 pm
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