Mohammed Siraj broke into the national team during Virat Kohli’s stint as India captain
Former India captain Virat Kohli has millions of fans across the country, having rose through the ranks to become one of the greatest cricketers of all time. Kohli, who is hailed as one of the best batters in modern-day cricket, is not just popular among the fans of the sport in India but also among many of his teammates. India pacer Mohammed Siraj recently underlined the same when he recalled a visit from Kohli to his Hyderabad home. Siraj broke into the national team during Kohli’s stint as India captain.
“I told (Virat) bhaiyya that I wanted to invite everyone home. He said, ‘Don’t worry, all of us will come’. I went home from the hotel. When I called him him up, he said ‘I have a stiff back brother, I can’t come.’ I just told him to rest; that is all I could have said,” said Siraj while speaking to The RCB Podcast.
“But, when the cars came, I saw (Virat) bhaiyya get off the car. Everyone was there, PP (Parthiv Patel) bhai, (Yuzvendra) Chahal bhai. I just ran towards bhaiyya. That surprise that I got, that was was my life’s best surprise. Because bhaiyya had said he wouldn’t be able to come. It became a big news — Virat Kohli has come to Toli Chowki,” he added.
“I had informed at home that Virat bhaiyya wouldn’t be coming. There was a sense of sadness. When they had heard initially that bhaiyya was coming, they were so excited and were deciding what clothes to wear. Their faces went down when they were told bhaiyya wouldn’t come. They still readied everything once I told them that the rest of the RCB players would be coming. Then bhaiyya came and as the saying goes – ‘chaar chaand laga diya’ (to make something more beautiful).”