India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was a late addition to India's T20 World Cup squad and made instant impact with a 3-fer in the IND vs USA clash on Saturday. Siraj finished with figures of 3/29 as India got their campaign off to a winning start. The pacer revealed that India captain Suryakumar called him 2 days before the game after an injury to Harshit Rana.
"Two days Surya bhai said:"Miaan bags pack kaar aur aaja (Pack your bags and come (to Mumbai)). I told him "Bhai mazaak maat karo kyon ki yeh to honewala hain nahi (Brother please don't joke as this won't happen). But he said ‘mai sach keh raha hoon, ready ho ja’ (I am telling you the truth, get ready)," Siraj said after the game.
Siraj was the 11th hour addition to the Indian squad after an injury to Harshit Rana. Rana suffered an injury that ruled him out of the tournament prompting India's need for a replacement.
Siraj flew to Mumbai after Suryakumar Yadav's call, with selector Pragyan Ojha also later confirming the decision. The India pacer landed in Mumbai just 24 hours before the IND vs USA game on Saturday.
When asked about how he had planned for the break in February after playing a couple of Ranji Trophy matches for Hyderabad, Siraj said, "There is a Real Madrid game on 15th and I was going to watch it and after that Ramzan, but whatever the almighty has written..."
Siraj said he was not able to believe that he was called up, knowing that he was not in India's plans for the tournament.
“It was feeling like a dream when I was on the flight, because I had not thought about playing in the World Cup,” Siraj said.
“The planning was going on for the last one year, those who were bound to play in this were getting the chances and since I had not played T20Is, I had understood that I won’t be a part of it.”
