Siraj’s brother thanks Virat Kohli after England heroics: ‘All the credit goes to Virat bhaia’

Mohammed Siraj ’s brother, Mohammed Ismail, has credited Virat Kohli for the fast bowler’s amazing rise after India won the fifth and final Test against England to draw the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series 2-2. Siraj finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series and played a big part in the team’s comeback win at The Oval, which won him the Player of the Match award.

Speaking to the Times of India, Ismail said that Siraj always remembers his late father and plays for his dream. Siraj’s father passed away days before his Test debut in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia, where he became India’s highest wicket-taker following a gruelling contest that saw a young side retain the cup by winning 2-1.

“Abbu ke liye khelna hai, unka sapna jiyunga main. That’s what Siraj always says. Fitness is on another level for him now. And it is all because of Virat Kohli. He takes a lot of inspiration from Virat. He is more than his elder brother. The aggression and hunger, he has taken from Virat,” Ismail told TOI.

How Kohli helped Siraj

He also spoke about how former India skipper Virat Kohli supported Siraj during tough times, especially in 2018 when Siraj had a very poor IPL season. Kohli was also Siraj’s captain in the Indian Premier League as they both played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) back then. Siraj later moved to Gujarat Titans, where he plays with his current India Test skipper Shubman Gill.

“In 2018, Siraj had a terrible IPL season. A lot of questions were raised, but at that time, Virat bhaia stood by him and supported him. He knew what qualities Siraj had. He backed Siraj and gave a lot of chances to him at both RCB and in the India team. All the credit goes to Virat bhaia. There have been times when Siraj has confessed that he owes his career to Virat bhai. And that’s absolutely true. He was fond of biryani, and now he eats it – and that too, rarely – after getting some pep talk from Virat bhaia,” Ismail said.

Ismail said Siraj was very upset when he didn’t get picked for the ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year. He said that the snub made him work harder. Ismail revealed that Siraj made the most of that break between the Champions Trophy and IPL 2025 and practiced his bowling.

“Siraj is a different player now. After not being picked in the ICC Champions Trophy, Siraj was upset. Really upset. He was heartbroken. But he became a different person. He started practicing more and more. There was some hard training and a strict regime involved then. Now, the results are in front of us. That gap between the Champions Trophy and the IPL gave him a lot of time to train both mentally and physically. That period did him a lot of good. He then played the IPL and performed well, and now in England, he is the highest wicket-taker,” Ismail said.

Siraj played all five Test matches in England and took 23 wickets. In a fitting end, he picked up the final wicket on last day of the series by cleaning Gus Atkinson’s stumps, who took England closer to victory and was just a hit away from finishing the game in the first hour of play itself. But Siraj held his nerve and clean bowled Atkinson, handing India a six-run win.