INDORE: Not picked for the T20 World Cup. However, 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 before the third and final ODI against the Kiwis, Siraj, when asked about being named the new captain of Hyderabad, flashed that infectious smile of his and said, “It’s a great honour. As a player, it is a dream to represent your state and then lead it.”
When asked if he had captained before, Siraj replied: “Yes, I was captain in the Hyderabad League before and now I am going to do it again. It is a good opportunity and I will enjoy it.”Having placed some gorillas as pacemakers, Siraj showed the awareness to dodge them as well. “It would be better if you handle the ball with Arshdeep, considering the ground is small and the pitch is flat,” a reporter asked him.Siraj took the moment to praise his junior 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 the coach decide who will bowl and when. As a bowler, I think if the opponent is under pressure and the wickets are falling, I want to create pressure from my side as well. I don’t want to lose runs; I want to bowl in one area and create pressure for the next wicket to come,” said the senior India pacer.Siraj also pointed out that perhaps the idea of the Indian team management was to give “confidence and exposure” to more players as they tried to build a team for the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. “Arshdeep also did very well against South Africa. If someone else gets a chance now, that is also good. Going into the World Cup, it gives confidence and exposure to more players, which is important for the future,” he said.‘He rested from the SA series’Meanwhile, Siraj clarified that he was “rested” from the home ODI series against South Africa and was not eliminated. “In the last series against South Africa, I rested because I bowled almost 40 overs in a five-day Test. As a fast bowler, rest is very important because the workload increases a lot. You need to rest, refuel and then refocus on your pace and bowling.”