Fan asks Anand Mahindra to gift Mohammed Siraj an SUV for Asia Cup final performance; he comes up with a smart reply
Industrialist Anand Mahindra came up with a clever response after a fan asked him to gift an SUV to Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj for his brilliant performance in the Asia Cup 2023 final. He reminded the fan that he had already done the same earlier.
Siraj ran through Sri Lanka’s batting line-up with figures of 6/21 in seven overs in the Asia Cup 2023 final at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. Courtesy of the Indian fast bowler’s brilliance, Sri Lanka were knocked over for 50 in 15.2 overs as Hardik Pandya also claimed 3/3. India’s openers then raced past the target in 6.1 overs.
Praising Siraj for his stupendous bowling performance, Mahindra took to his official X [formerly Twitter] account and wrote:
"I don't think I have EVER before felt my heart weep for our opponents….It's as if we have unleashed a supernatural force upon them…@mdsirajofficial you are a Marvel Avenger…"
Responding to that post, a user commented:
"Sir please give him a suv"
Mahindra sportingly gave a reply to the request and wrote:
“Been there, done that…”
After India’s terrific 2-1 Test series triumph over Australia Down Under in 2020-21, Mahindra had gifted SUVs to Siraj, T Natarajan, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, and Navdeep Saini.
“Have been bowling well for a long time, was missing the edges earlier” - Siraj
Reflecting on his superb effort in the Asia Cup 2023 final against Sri Lanka, Siraj stated that he has been bowling well for a while, but wasn’t getting the rewards.
He said at the post-match presentation:
“Have been bowling well for a long time. Was missing the edges earlier, but found them today. The wicket was seaming earlier, but there was swing today, so I thought that I would bowl fuller because of the swing. When there's good bonding between fast bowlers, it's helpful for the team.”
In a praiseworthy gesture, the fast bowler donated his Player of the Match prize money to Sri Lanka’s ground staff. The tournament organizers also rewarded the ground staff with $50,000.
The ground staff in Colombo was pivotal in ensuring that the Asia Cup produced a result despite rain and some rather unfriendly weather conditions for playing cricket.