13 Cricketing stories of rags to riches in Indian cricket

9. Mohammed Siraj

Coming from a lower-middle-class household, 23-year-old Mohammed Siraj wouldn’t have imagined in the wildest of dreams that he’d stir up a storm in the player auction of IPL, 2017. His first income as a cricketer had been a mere Rs. 500 in a club match, where he had picked up 9 wickets for 20 odd runs in a 25-over game.

It was his maternal uncle who had given him the money as a prize. Siraj credits his parents for having made innumerable sacrifices to provide him with the best cricketing facilities. In his own words, he “went numb” in front of his television set, when he raked in a staggering bid of Rs. 2.6 Crores from the Sunrisers Hyderabad team.