I Think He Was Not Ready For T20s…’: Dinesh Karthik Recalls Mohammed Siraj’s India’s Debut In 2017

Siraj made his debut in a T20I against New Zealand in Rajkot.

New Delhi: India have built an enviable bowling unit over the years. Bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami cement their places in the Indian team with excellent records.

Mohammed Siraj one of the top bowlers of the country has shown impressive skills in ODIs this year. Due to his back to back surreal performances Siraj is considered to be a strong candidate to play an integral role for India in the ODI World Cup later this year.

Siraj jas been a regular player who makes it to the playing XI of the team but this wasn’t always the case. He has spent number of years on the bench after making his international debut in November 2017.

Siraj made his debut in a T20I against New Zealand in Rajkot. In his debut match he took wicket of Kiwi talisman Kane Williamson.

In a show of Cricbuzz Veteran India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik recalled that he had predicted that Siraj would get this kind of treatment from Munro. He also expressed that he thought Siraj was not ready for his T20 debut and predicted that the Indian pacer will be smacked by called Colin Munro.

“When he was picked for T20s at the time, I think he wasn’t ready for the format. He was sharp but he was known to be a bit erratic and he got picked in the T20 team. He played a game in Rajkot against New Zealand and prior to that day I was saying, ‘There is a batter called Colin Munro, he is going to smack you. Just wait and watch, I have a feeling he is going to belt you,’” said Karthik on Cricbuzz’s ‘Rise of New India’ show.

“He said, ‘No, no, I’ll get him out.’ Interestingly, Colin Munro went on to get a hundred in that game and he really pasted this guy. Even today he says you have such a bad tongue, you said something and it came through and my career almost got finished there. We have lot of fun moments, he is one of the few fast bowlers I connected with a lot. He lives in Hyderabad but can’t speak a word of Telugu, I make fun of him for that as well,” Karthik said.