You call it a fairytale rise up the Indian ranks claiming it to be a classic rags-to-riches story, or praise his bowling prowess as he honed it little by little, but Mohammed Siraj’s run from an absolute nobody to a call-up for the T20I series against New Zealand has created quite a stir in Indian cricketing fraternity.

It was only in late Monday afternoon that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 16-member squad for the three-match T20I series against a touring New Zealand side. Much to the surprise of many, Siraj and Shreyas Iyer – two uncapped players were named in the squad for the shortest format of the game.

The 23-year-old speedster from Hyderabad, born to an auto rickshaw driver, came to limelight with his scintillating performance in the 10^th season of Indian Premier League (IPL). And it was not just after the Hyderabad-based franchise roped in the pacer with a whopping INR 2.6 crore, but also because he lived up to the expectations finishing off the campaign with 10 wickets in six matches. Well, it did include a stunning four-fer against Gujarat Lions that helped the former champions qualify for the playoffs. But that is not where it had all started.

It was at the age of seven that Siraj fell in love with the Gentlemen’s game. Back then, it was mere bunking classes to play tennis-ball cricket. Later in 2015, he picked up the red ball and bagged quite a few five-wicket hauls. He soon got a call-up for Hyderabad’s Under-23 side and then the senior team and finally for Ranji. In the 2016-17 season, the pacer scalped 41 wickets at an average of 18.92 as he became the third-highest wicket-taker in the campiagn after Shahbaz Nadeem and Anupam Sanklecha. And what followed next was a maiden IPL season.

He then recieved a call for the India A series against South Africa where he continued with his brilliancy picking up 10 wickets. Of late, he played against New Zealand A where he picked up four wickets in three matches. Overall, he has played 16 T20 matches, picking up 26 wickets at an average of 18.73.

“I knew that some time in future I will get a call-up but did not expect it this soon. I can’t tell you how happy I am. When I told my parents, they were speechless. It’s a dream come true,” said Siraj in an interview to PTI.

“Whatever I am today is primarily because of Ranji Trophy performance. My 40-odd wickets last season gave me the confidence. There’s nothing like getting wickets in first- class cricket. I was picked for Rest of India after that and because of Ranji Trophy, I got the IPL deal. So 60 per cent credit for this call-up is performance in first-class cricket,” he added. “I can’t tell you how much I am indebted to Bharath Arun sir. He is a brilliant coach. Last year, he was with the Hyderabad team and for the first time, I got an insight to the kind of variations needed to survive at the highest level.”

source: http://www.timesnownews.com / Times Now / Home> Sports . by Times Now Digital, Agencies / October 23rd, 2017