Mohammad Siraj made his debut for the India on Sunday in the second T20I against New Zealand in Rajkot.
Siraj was picked in the starting XI in place of Ashish Nehra who had announced that he would be retiring from the game after the first T20I.
Siraj was given his commemorative international cap by coach Ravi Shastri in the presence of the rest of the Indian team. He is one of the many bowlers who have made their debuts in the last one year under Virat Kohli. Among them, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have somewhat cemented their places in the limited overs side while Hardik Pandya has emerged as a valuable all-rounder.
His performance for Sunrisers Hyderabad and Ranji side impressed the selectors to hand him a chance on the side. The Muslim bowler failed to keep his emotions clam after honoring the national anthem.
Virat Kohli quoted about him like this, ” Mohammed Siraj makes his debut in place of Ashish Nehra. He is an upcoming talent in IPL and is an exciting prospect.”
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“We always wanted to bowl first anyway. Not such a bad thing to lose the toss. The support staff came in last evening and spotted some dew on the outfield. I can’t be sure of New Zealand’s mindset to bat first – perhaps they want to go into the game without any pressure of batting. It is an opportunity for us to restrict them in the first innings; we’re getting to do what we wanted to out here.