New Delhi, Jan. 19 -- Mohammed Siraj and his elder brother Ismail are grateful to their late father because he wouldn't erupt in anger when exam results would reveal that the pace bowler was skipping them to play cricket matches. He would instead encourage him to play good cricket.

"Siraj used to skip exams to play cricket. We never knew about it. When results would come, there used to be absent marked against his name. Then only we would find out that he had skipped exams and gone to play cricket. In fact, every time exams used to happen, he would skip them and go to play cricket - even at the intermediate level. He used to focus more on cricket than studies. That was his priority," recalls Mohammed Ismail, who was more inclined towards...