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The immortal lines on friendship from the film Sholay ‘Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge
Todenge dum, magar tera saath na chhodenge’ is an apt reflection of the undying dosti between Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj, who is the toast of the nation after his exploits in England, and his First Lancer friends.
Though Siraj tasted unprecedented success in cricket and has been able to make a fortune for himself, he has remained grounded. After getting an IPL contract, he was able to buy a house in Towli Chowki and move out of the rented Khaja Nagar house – it was his dream to buy a house for his parents. A couple of years later, he built a huge house in the plush Jubilee Hills area – where the Richie Rich of Hyderabad have made their abode. Despite not living in First Lancer anymore, he still makes it a point to meet his friends at his beloved Eidgah Maidan.
With cricket being played through the year and Siraj being an integral part of Team India across formats, does he have the time to meet his friends? “Siraj still comes to the ground whenever he is in the city. He has no airs at all,” vouched one of his cricket friends.
Siraj and his friends began playing at the Maidan in their early teens and hence the bonding is really strong. They have known the struggles and depravity of life and they are more than happy to see one of them scaling new heights in life. There is no jealousy as it is a shared camaraderie – one for all and all for one.
“When Siraj is in the city, there is never a day when he misses coming to the ground. Because he has to be mindful of injuries, he no longer bowls as the surface is hard but he does bat. In the initial days, he used to jog a bit but nowadays he just loves to whack the tennis ball to all parts of the ground,” Mohd Shafi, a longtime and dear friend of Siraj, told CricBlogger on Tuesday.
“It is fun bowling to him and we all enjoy the banter with him,”Shafi, who was Siraj’s skipper during their tennis ball cricket days, said and added that they are at the ground beyond
10 in the night. “After that, Siraj will ask us to come over to his house. So most times we end up being together till midnight,” he said gleefully.
How often does he get to speak to him? “Almost daily when he is in India. Even when he is on tour, we speak quite often,” he said.
Shafi said he called up Siraj after the win on Monday. “I was at the office but still called him up. He picked up the call though he was in the dressing room. I congratulated him and hung up as he would be busy,” he said.
“Later in the night all of us had gathered at the ground and we made a video call to Siraj. He spoke to us for more than 20 minutes. It was nice to hear his experiences and share in his joy,” Shafi said.
“Siraj said he rated this win along with the ones at the Gabba and The Lord’s. He was really delighted to do his bit for the country. When he wears the Indian Jersey, he is transformed – he is not mindful of pain or workload,” he said.
Shafi also said Siraj is ever willing to own up to his mistakes. The dropped catch of Englishman Harry Brook had rankled the fast bowler a lot. “Siraj said he was not aware of being so close to the boundary rope and felt guilty about messing up the catch. He said he didn’t sleep that night properly. He said if he had taken the catch properly, the match would have been over the previous day and India would have won handsomely,” he said.
For now the friends are basking in Siraj’s glorious deeds and are looking forward to meeting him in a couple of days time and have one of their long sessions into the night. While the world celebrates Friendship Day once in a year on the first Sunday of August, it is a celebration everyday for Siraj and his band of cricketers from First Lancer.
It will be apt to close this ode with another couplet from the same song of Sholay as a tribute to their undying friendship.
Bye-bye
‘Khaana-peena saath hai, Marna-jeena saath hai…
Khaana-peena saath hai, Marna-jeena saath hai saari zindagi..
Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge
Todenge dum, magar tera saath na chhodenge’
Nice story!