Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun recently opened up on an interesting story about Mohammed Siraj. Arun revealed that the Indian pacer kept persisting about his selection even though he was already playing for India A team. Siraj always wanted himself to get picked for the Indian senior team.
“Subsequently after doing well for Hyderabad, I went and joined the Indian team while Siraj played India A. And every time he did well in a match, he would call me and say ‘Sir, when are you calling me?’,” revealed Arun while Speaking on Cricbuzz show, ‘Rise of New India’.
“I asked ‘Where?’ and he would go ‘In the Indian team sir. When will I get a chance?’ I said ‘Pick more wickets and once you impress in India A tour, you will be there,'” he added.
“Every time he bowled a good spell, I thought he did an exceptional job while playing for India A. One such call I remember; Ravi Shastri asked me and was like ‘Kaun hai yeh? (Who is he?),'” Arun said.
“I said ‘Siraj… this is the background and he is calling me to ask when he would be part of this Indian team. One thing Ravi told me was ‘you have to give him credit for his confidence’. Someone who has the belief to call me and ask me ‘When are you calling me? That’s confidence,’” he concluded.