3 times Mohammed Siraj silenced his critics

Star Indian fast bowler Mohammed Siraj turned 30 today (March 13). The right-arm pacer, who achieved the world number one ranking in ODIs last year, has become one of India's top all-format players.

As far as Mohammed Siraj's numbers in international cricket are concerned, the right-arm fast bowler has played 27 Tests, scalping 74 wickets, including three five-wicket hauls.

In ODI cricket, Siraj has accounted for 68 wickets in 40 innings. He bowled an incredible spell of 6/21 in the Asia Cup 2023 final against Sri Lanka, which is also his career's best performance.

Siraj's T20I career started back in 2017, but he has only played 10 matches in the shortest format of the game for India so far. In those 10 games, he has taken 12 wickets at a strike rate of 19.

Over the last seven years, Mohammed Siraj has witnessed several ups and downs in his cricket career. Fans would often troll him for his disappointing performances at the start of his career, but on the fast bowler's 30th birthday today, here's a look at the three instances when he silenced his critics.

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#1 Mohammed Siraj bounces back in the 2023 ODI World Cup

Siraj was in dream form heading into the 2023 ODI World Cup in India last year. He bowled his career's best spell of 6/21 in the Asia Cup 2023 final and then returned with figures of 1/26 in India's ODI World Cup opener against Australia.

However, Siraj had an off day in the office against Afghanistan, where he leaked 76 runs in his 10 wicketless overs. All of a sudden, many fans questioned his place in the team. In the next match against Pakistan, Siraj bounced back by taking the big wickets of Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam.

Former Indian pacer Sreesanth exclusively told Sportskeeda about how those fans were 'topi masters'.

"Before the match, people were saying 'Why is Shardul playing?' And as soon as Siraj started going for runs, people started saying 'Why is Siraj playing?' These are topi masters," Sreesanth said.

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#2 Mohammed Siraj's career-changing spell against KKR

Until IPL 2020, very few fans rated Siraj highly. Most of the fans raised questions on Virat Kohli whenever he selected Siraj in the playing XI. Siraj had to face a lot of criticism when he went for 44 runs in his three wicketless overs against Punjab Kings on October 15, 2020.

Just six days later, when the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) took the field against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Siraj bowled an incredible spell of 3/8 in four overs. He dismissed Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana and Tom Banton to help RCB crush KKR in that contest.

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#3 Mohammed Siraj justifies his place in T20I squad

Back in 2022, quite a few fans were not happy when Siraj received a place in India's T20I squad for the away series against New Zealand. They pointed out that Siraj only had five wickets in six T20Is at an economy rate of more than 10. Plus, he went for 44 runs in four wicketless overs against South Africa in his previous T20I.

However, Siraj silenced the critics with his magnificent performance against the Blackcaps. He bagged six wickets in just two T20Is of that series and bowled his career-best T20I spell of 4/17 in four overs at McLean Park.