INDORE: He was not picked for the T20 World Cup. Yet, these are good times for Mohammed Siraj. The 31-year-old fast bowler was recently named captain of the Hyderabad Ranji Trophy team.On Saturday at the Holkar Stadium, a day ahead of the third and final ODI against the Kiwis, Siraj, when asked about being named the new Hyderabad captain, flashed that infectious smile of his and said, “It is a great honour. As a player, it is a dream to represent your state and then lead it.”
Asked if he had captained before, Siraj replied, “Yes, I captained in the Hyderabad League earlier, and now I am doing it again. It is a good opportunity, and I will enjoy it.”Having dished out a few bouncers as a pacer, Siraj showed the awareness to duck them too. “Would it be better if you handle the ball with Arshdeep, considering the ground is small and the pitch is flat,” a reporter asked him.Siraj chose the moment to praise his junior pace-bowling colleague Harshit Rana. “Look, Harshit has bowled very well. You can see that he is taking wickets with the new ball. The captain and coach decide who will bowl and when. As a bowler, my thinking is that if the opposition is under pressure and wickets are falling, I want to build pressure from my end as well. I don’t want to leak runs — I want to bowl in one area and create pressure so the next wicket comes,” the senior India pacer said.Siraj also pointed out that perhaps the idea of the Indian team management was to give “confidence and exposure” to more players while trying to build a squad for the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. “Arshdeep also did very well against South Africa. If someone else is getting an opportunity now, that is also good. Looking ahead to the World Cup, it gives confidence and exposure to more players, which is important for the future,” he said.‘Was rested from SA series’Meanwhile, Siraj clarified that he was “rested” from the home ODI series against South Africa, and not dropped. “In the last series against South Africa, I was rested because I bowled nearly 40 overs in a fiveday Test. As a fast bowler, rest is very important because the workload increases a lot. You need to rest, refuel, and then come back focusing on your rhythm and bowling.”
