For Mohammed Siraj, the time is now

Mohammed Siraj celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Zak Crawley. (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

In the last 3 years Mohammed Siraj has seen it all. He lost his father early into the tour of Australia in November 2020 and could not come home because of the quarantine norms down under. None of his teammates could even go to his room to give him a shoulder to cry on. At the time there were cops outside every room just in case the Indians tried to violate protocol. Only the physio was allowed to go to his room to treat him and Nitin Patel used the window to go and console the young man who was in mourning. Enduring grief he stayed on to do duty for his team and had a dream debut in Melbourne. Thereafter he had to lead the Indian attack in Brisbane in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and ended with fifer. India won the Test match and the series.

And now he is yet again back to leading the attack with Bumrah rested. And just like in 2021 when there was questions asked of him, this time round too much was said and written about him after Leeds. Siraj v the England openers is a story within a story and Siraj has faced a lot already.

But then that's what helps set it up for him. In 2020 it was the Boxing Day Test that scripted the Siraj narrative. And now it's the Edgbaston Test that could complete his redemption. He hasn't been his usual self this series and as a result Jasprit Bumrah has lacked the support he so badly needs. And now in the absence of Bumrah, India needs Siraj and the time is now.

With Siraj, you always get 100 percent. That's him. He might lose but in terms of effort, there will never be any less push. And that’s what makes him special. He draws our attention to the fact that there is so much more to sport than winning or losing. That one team will win on a given day and one will lose despite its best effort is only a surface reality. What is at times more important than the winning or losing, stuff that we don’t often see, may well at times convey the true significance of sport. The success of Mohammed Siraj is such a story.

Here is a young man from Hyderabad who had lost his father but was unable to come back to his family. In grief, he was trying to bring smiles on a billion faces with his teammates cheering him on in Australia. He wasn't Muslim or Hindu. He was Indian. This was the India of our dreams turning into a reality. This was an India of hope and an India that dares to dream. Siraj isn't the most eloquent. He need not be. What he is and will be is what our country is all about. Hard work and more hard work with dignity and integrity and the realisation that such effort does pay off. It did one more time yesterday afternoon at Edgbaston.

Siraj is the perfect underdog story, which we so identify with in India and that’s what makes him relevant. Siraj has failed on multiple occasions in the past just like so many of us have. But he dared to push and eventually win. Can he do it again? A little more discipline and self restraint and he can indeed win the battle today at Edgbaston. And if Siraj can, India can.