Here's how MS Dhoni helped Mohammed Siraj overcome from career lows

Mohammed Siraj is one of the most improved cricketers in the recent past. From getting dropped from the Indian team to being one of the best pacers in the country, he has come a long way. As a matter of fact, Siraj was recently retained by Bangalore ahead of the mega auction as well.

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However, the pacer recently revealed that he thought his Indian T20 league career was over after his poor show in 2019. During the thirteenth edition of the league, he took seven wickets and had an economy rate of 9.55. He leaked a lot of runs in that season.

In a game against the Kolkata Knight Riders, the Andhra Pradesh pacer went for 36 runs in 2.2 overs and he was forced out of the attack after bowling two beamers. However, he said that as he had age on his side and he trusted himself to do better. He also stated that he was backed by the management.

"2019 the performance with RCB was so bad that I thought that is the end of my IPL career. But then I realized that I still have age on my side. So I decided to trust myself a bit and thankfully the RCB management also backed me. I almost thought any franchise in their position would have let go of a bowler after that kind of performance, but they backed me, and then 2020 the game against KKR was a life-changing game for me," Mohammed Siraj said on the 'RCB Podcast'.

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Siraj then spoke about how MS Dhoni had advised him to ignore the outside noise. He drew light on how he was massively criticized whenever he performed poorly. He added that MS Dhoni said that the same people criticizing you will stand and applaud you.

"When I bowled those two beamers against KKR, people said 'quit cricket and go back and drive autos with your father'. There were so many such comments. And people don't see the struggle behind all this. But I remember when I first got selected how MS Dhoni told me to not listen to everything the people have to say about me. 'You do well today and they'll praise you and when you don't the same people will abuse you. So don't ever take it seriously.' And yes, the same people who trolled me incessantly back then say 'you're the best bowler bhai'. So, I know. I don't want anybody's opinion. I'm the same Siraj I was back then," he said.