RCB's team culture is brilliant; has given me confidence: Mohammed Siraj

Since the start of his cricket career in 2017 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and T20Is, Indian’s right-arm pacer Mohammed Siraj was subjected to massive hate and criticism for his inability to put a halt to the flow of the runs. However, IPL 2020, hosted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can be considered as a breakthrough year in Siraj’s career as his exemplary performance for Royal Challengers Bangalore paved the way for his inclusion in Indian’s Test team. Since then there has been no looking back for the speedster as he emerged as India’s highest wicket-taker in the four-match Test series against Australia.

The 27-year-old attracted the attention of the cricket fraternity with his magical spell against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2020 as he became the first bowler to bowl two consecutive maiden overs. In that game, Siraj returned with the figures of 4-2-8-3 followed by ending the season with 11 wickets from 9 games at an average of 21.45 and an economy rate of 8.68.

In a video uploaded on RCB’s Twitter handle, Mohammed Siraj spoke about the previous IPL season saying that when he entered the camp, he was a bit low on confidence but the team culture and skipper Virat Kohli helped him in boosting his morale and motivated him to perform well.

“Last year, when I joined RCB, I was a bit low on confidence. But when I started bowling with the new ball on a single wicket, that helped me. And then that performance against KKR gave me a lot of confidence. The team culture was brilliant. We would all gather together and discuss things in the presence of our captain Virat Kohli,” said Mohammed Siraj.

Bold Diaries: Mohammed Siraj 2.0

Siraj talks about his Indian team debut, how he regained his confidence during last year’s IPL, goals for this season and much more, on @myntra presents Bold Diaries.#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/pcSRgy6OQu

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 8, 2021

Bharat Arun sir treats me like his son: Mohammed Siraj

Further in the interaction, the pace sensation lavished praises on Team India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun, saying that the veteran treats him like his son and always motivates him to focus on the basics and stick to the proper line and length.

“Bharat Arun sir treats me like his son. Whenever I talk to him, he boosts my confidence. Even in the Indian camp, it’s the same as what it was having him with Hyderabad. He always asked me to focus on the basics and stick to my line and length. He says not to try something extra but focus on fitness,” Mohammed Siraj concluded.