Mohammed Siraj’s ailing father passes away, India pacer says ‘lost the biggest support of my life’

KEY STORY

• India’s right-arm fast bowler Mohammed Siraj’s ailing father Mohammed Ghouse has passed away, at the age of 53, on Friday. According to Sportstar, the Team India pacer, who is in Australia for the Test series, heard the news of his father’s demise after a practice session Sydney.

• Due to the quarantine rules in Australia, amid the coronavirus-induced pandemic, the 26-year-old Siraj won’t be able to attend the last rites of his father.

  “My dad’s wish was always this – mera beta, desh ka naam roshan karna (my son, you should make my country proud). And, I will do that for sure,” Siraj told Sportstar.

  “I know what kind of hardship my dad faced in my early days driving an auto rickshaw to let me pursue my passion for the game. It is shocking. I lost the biggest support of my life. It was his dream to see me play for the country and I am glad that way I could realise that and bring joy for him.”

  “The coach Shastri Sir and captain Virat Kohli were informed about the news. They just told me to be bold and are lending all the support,” Siraj added.

• Mohammed Ghouse, 53, was suffering from a lung ailment and was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad a day before Siraj had stunned Kolkata Knight Riders with a magnificent spell of 3/8 on October 21.

“Dad was admitted to hospital a day before the match so I was really concerned. However when I called home after the match, I was really surprised to hear that dad was home and that made me more happy that another good news after we winning the match against KKR,” Siraj had in a video posted by RCB.

“He even told me happily that people having calling him whole day that your son has done so well in IPL and all the newspapers in Hyderabad have your photo,” he said.

India’s Test squad: Virat Kohli (Capt), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar, Ajinkya(vc), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj