Mumbai, February 7 Mohammed Siraj was in a relaxed mood and was about to fly to Spain in a week to watch his favorite team, Real Madrid, play against Real Sociedad, when skipper Suryakumar Yadav's number beeped on his cellphone.
"Two days before, Surya bhai said: 'Pack your bags and come (to Mumbai). I told him, 'Brother, please don't joke, as this won't happen.' But he said, 'I'm telling you the truth, get ready.' "
Later, (India selector) Pragyan Ojha bhai called me... Whatever God has written, no one can change that," an elated Siraj narrated his comeback story after being the pick of the Indian bowlers with three wickets in the team's 29-run win against USA in the T20 World Cup opener.
When asked about how he had planned for the break in February after playing a couple of Ranji Trophy matches for Hyderabad, Siraj said, "There was a Real Madrid game on the 15th, and I was planning to watch it, followed by Ramadan. But whatever God has written..."
In fact, when the team's S&C coach, Adrian Le Roux, had messaged him asking, "What's the plan?", Siraj had replied, "'Don't message me right now because I had played two four-day games and I need rest. I will see after this what the plan is."
Siraj said he was not able to believe that he had been called up, knowing that he was not in India's plans for the tournament.
"It felt like a dream when I was on the flight, because I had not thought about playing in the World Cup," Siraj said.
"The planning had been going on for the last one year, and those who were bound to play were getting the chances. Since I hadn't played T20Is, I had understood that I wouldn't be a part of it."
As one of his teammates, Rinku Singh, often posts on social media: "God's Plan Baby".