How India's latest pace sensation Siraj turned grief into glory

Late last year, an untested young member of the Indian Test team paced to and fro in his hotel room in Australia whilst undergoing mandatory 14-day quarantine as he was gripped with overwhelming concern for his father Mohd Gauss, who was battling for life far away in India.
  
His father did not make it. And understandably, Siraj broke down several times. But faced with the harsh reality presented by the Covid restrictions, none of his teammates could console him as they were prevented from exiting their own rooms. 

The intense personal loss, however, only strengthened Siraj's grit.

Siraj's courageous story of how he battled his tragedies and emerged as one of the finest fast-bowling components for India at the highest level was reflected in a book named "Mission Domination: An Unfinished Quest" on cricket in India, co-authored by Boria Majumdar and Kushan Sarkar. 

His recent eight-wicket haul at Lord's against England guided India to a resounding victory and also proved that his success in his debut series against Australia was not just a fluke. It showed that the Indian cricket's adored "Miyaan" had just begun his story. 

The way Siraj bowled in the Lord's Test -- making breakthroughs on two crucial occasions when the match seemed to be heading towards a draw -- not only talked about his skill set but also ability to perform under pressure.

Siraj had gone to Australia with the experience of having played just a few white ball games in India where he did not get much success.

He opened up to the book's authors revealing that he was abusing himself for failing and coaxed himself to push harder on debut. 

"I was telling myself that I had done nothing worthwhile in the white-ball games. And here are the same batsmen Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, who I had bowled to and had success against while playing for India A. Then why couldn't I do so at this stage? I had to. There was no turning back," Siraj was quoted as saying in the book. 

He ended up with 13 wickets against Australia in that tour and had not looked back since.