To make your debut for the country is one of the most important and best feelings of one’s life as a cricketer. With the Indian cricket team one of the hardest to get into, it must feel really euphoric when one finds their name in the selected squad for the country.
That feeling must be currently felt by the likes of Mohammad Siraj and Shreyas Iyer. Two of the young guns of Indian cricket found themselves in the squad for the T20 series against the touring New Zealand team.
The two players have been really good for their respective domestic teams as well as performed for the India A squads whenever they have been picked. Their inclusion is well warranted if India want to find the right combination to stay on top of the world in the game.
Siraj’s rise from obscurity:
Siraj was one player who did not begin playing professional cricket until the age of 20. Siraj was the son of an auto-rickshaw driver and would be berated by his mother for playing cricket instead of studying like his software engineer brother. However, Siraj believed in his talent and was enrolled in the Charminar Cricket Club of Hyderabad. It was here that Siraj picked up many 5-fors that helped him get noticed and move into the Hyderabad Ranji Team.
He then moved onto the Ranji league and despite an average start, he managed to pick up pace and ended up becoming the third highest wicket-taker in the entire tournament. His 41 wickets at an average just below 19 ensured that he was in the Irani Trophy team to play the Rest of India in a game.
Following his rise, he was picked by home team, Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and picked 10 wickets in just 6 games that included a 4-fer against the Gujarat Lions.
His consistent performances for India A helped him realize his dream and he is now part of the T20 setup.
Shreyas Iyer’s patience pays off:
If there was ever a player who was banging on the door of the Indian Team, it would be Iyer. The Mumbai-based batsman was always talented to make it to most of the international squads but never got the opportunity for India… Until now.
Iyer worked hard and never let the disappointment of not being selected get to him and he is now reaping the benefits. Iyer was able to put in strong performances in the IPL even after being bagged for a massive price of Rs. 2.6 crores. He hit 439 in the ensuing IPL to prove that he was here to play cricket.
This was followed by two strong Ranji Trophy showings, where he managed to score 809 runs in the 2014-15 season and went on to emulate that further with a massive 1321 runs in the following season.
These strong performances were backed by solid stats of 108, 82, 90 and 37 for India A against New Zealand A. Shreyas Iyer has finally made his dream come true and it will be up to him to sustain it for a longer period.
By Rohit Nair
