Mohammed Siraj is making headlines these days for his superb show with the ball. The 29-year-old pacer sits at the No. 1 position in the ICC ODI bowlers ranking and is taking wickets match in and match out to justify the tag of being the world’s best ODI bowler. After a superb show with the ball in ODI matches against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, Siraj impressed with his show in the first ODI against Australia as well. In the series opener of the three-match ODI series, which was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday (March 17), Siraj accounted for the dismissal of three batters in 5.4 overs for 29 runs.
Apart from Siraj’s bowling, which has become a nightmare for opposition batters, another thing that catches attention is his celebration after taking the wickets. The Hyderabad-based cricketer copies star footballer Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘Siuu’ celebration after taking wickets. And taking note of the same, his senior bowling partner Mohammed Shami, who also picked up three wickets in the first match, has offered him an epic piece of advice.
After the conclusion of the first ODI, which India won by five wickets, Siraj and Shami got together for a candid chat, the video of which was shared by the BCCI on its social media handles. During the conversation, Shami asked Siraj about his celebration after taking wickets.
I have a question for you as well. Can you tell us what is the secret behind your celebration,” Shami asked, to which Siraj responded by saying, “My celebration is simple. I’m a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, so I try to follow him. When a batter is bowled, I celebrate the wicket in that fashion, but if he is caught at fine leg or similar fielding position, I don’t do it.”
And before he could finish, Shami gave him some sound advice. “Ek advice hain, acha baat hain, aap kisi k fan hain,” he said. “Par as a fast bowler, aapko yeh jumpon se thoda sa duur rehna chahiye.” (I want to give you some advice. It’s good that you are someone’s fan. But as a fast bowler, you need to keep yourself away from such jumps).
In the first ODI of the three-match series, riding on Shami and Siraj’s superb show, India dismissed the Australian team for just 188 runs.
