The story of Mohammed Siraj who fetched 2.6 crore at IPL auctions – essentiallysports.com

“Opportunities don’t happen, you create them!”

-Chris Grosser

Mohammed Siraj ,a 22 year old Hyderabadi local boy has bagged a gold at the IPL auctions in Banglore after being the fourth most expensive INDIAN player who will now go on to play for his home team SUNRISERS HYDERABAD. Mohammaed Siraj, a young cricketer who always aspired to play cricket for the nation just like a millions in the nation, has now turned his dream to a reality after being bought by the SRH team for a whooping 2.6 crores from a base price of a mere 20 lakhs. The change that his destiny has undergone is surreal. Being a son of an auto-rickshaw driver and the one belonging to a destitute background, Mohammed Siraj is an exemplary case of what happens when you rate passion over everything else. Always being fascinated by cricket ,Siraj’s unconditional love towards the sport drew him closer to his childhood dream of performing on the big stage. His journey from playing with tennis balls ?to sharing the dressing room with the greats like VVS LAXMAN and DAVID WARNER is an example of one’s dedication and perseverance fetching the desired outcomes. The rotten leaves(books) never inspired him like the red shining cherry(cricket balls) did. He, unlike his brother who works in a reputed IT firm, always preferred the sport over education. Despite of the continuous scoldings from his mother, who always wanted him to study and get a job so as to improve the family’s financial condition, he took over his interest to pursue the passion. His story of success is no less than a fanciful movie. It all started in his life when he played a club match under the captaincy of his maternal uncle wherein the right arm pacer bagged a stunning nine wicket haul for few 20 odd runs. Impressed by his performance, his uncle gifted him 500 rupees, his first salary of playing cricket. The reason why Siraj’s journey is so ?special is that he is a self trained bowler?.Siraj who had been picked up into the team to play in the one day Col Acrylic League made most of the chances and then went on to play for Charminar Cricket Club in a two day league. It was Siraj’s pace that drew the selector’s attention and was given a chance in U-23 probable’s team where he snatched a five wicket haul that sealed his berth in the team.His breakthrough in the first class cricket did not go as he might have thought of as he managed just a single wicket but there were many more to come.The pacer credits his success to his coach Bharat Arun and the skipper Badrinath. He had a dream run in the Ranji Season where the speedster grabbed 41 wickets with the best match figures of 9/116 against the MUMBAI team in the quarterfinals.This domestic cricket performance has fetched the auto driver’s son a jackpot which will serve as a big leap in his career. The pacer wants his father to retire from the job of a driver that he had been doing since nearly 30 years. His only wish is to gift his family a house in a better locality after signing a stupendous deal with SRH. It will be interesting to watch how Siraj’s future is shaped after the IPL contract and how much he makes of the opportunities.His ability to generate pace can serve as a boon to his call up for the international stages. IPl has engineered the career of many young cricket aspirants like the Pandya brothers or Iqbal Abdulla and that is what the beauty of this league is.