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Siraj find of the Australian tour: Shastri

New Delhi: India head coach Ravi Shastri on Friday described rookie pacer Mohammed Siraj as the find of the Australia tour, hailing him for playing a key role in the historic Test series win despite personal loss and racial abuse from spectators Down Under. Siraj could not return to India after his father, who was […]

By PTI

Published Date - 22 January 2021, 06:48 PM

Siraj find of the Australian tour: Shastri — File photo of Mohammed Siraj.

New Delhi: India head coach Ravi Shastri on Friday described rookie pacer Mohammed Siraj as the find of the Australia tour, hailing him for playing a key role in the historic Test series win despite personal loss and racial abuse from spectators Down Under.

Siraj could not return to India after his father, who was an auto driver, died barely a week after he landed in Australia with the Indian team in November last year. He also faced racial abuse from a section of the crowd in Sydney during the third Test.

Despite all this, Siraj finished the series with 13 wickets — the most by any Indian bowler — as the team came from behind to script a memorable 2-1 win.

“Find of the tour for shoring up the bowling attack the way he did – Mohd Siraj. He fought through personal loss, racial remarks and channelised them to find home in the team huddle,” Shastri tweeted in appreciation of the 26-year-old pacer.

Find of the tour for shoring up the bowling attack the way he did – Mohd Siraj. He fought through personal loss, racial remarks and channelised them to find home in the team huddle 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/qkzpXgqQiX

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) January 22, 2021