"Sir aap thoda encouragement de do, dekho mein kitna aage jaata hoon. Jaan de doonga sir. (Sir, just give me some encouragement and see how far I go. I'll give my life for it)."

Mohammed Siraj was still all of 20 and just a net bowler when he approached Bharat Arun with this bold declaration. He'd been called up to bowl to the Kings XI Punjab batsmen during the 2014 IPL in Hyderabad. As the then bowling coach of the franchise, Arun was around overseeing the practice session. He'd never met or heard of Siraj before. But the boy's immense self-confidence had made an impression on him.

Siraj it turned out had been part of his state's under-22 team that year. Within a year, he was making his first-class debut for Hyderabad. Only a season later, Arun and he would renew their acquaintances, forming a mentor-pupil relationship that would become an integral part of the young seamer's development. And it continued even after the former India fast bowler quit as Hyderabad coach and resumed his duties with the Indian team.

It's the phone calls that Arun would receive from him during the phase post 2016, however, that really convinced the coach that Siraj's confidence alone could bring him to the highest level. In addition to his bountiful skills that is. And the content of these conversations would more or less be the same each time.

"Sir kab bula rahe ho wahan? (Sir when are you calling me up to the Indian team?)" early on and then a few months later, "Sir ab bahut India A bhi khel liya, abhi toh bula lo. (Now, I've played a lot of India A cricket too. You should call me over now)."

Even Arun though couldn't have imagined the manner in which that innate self-confidence and belief would turn Siraj into an outright sensation when that call did finally come. For, during this dramatic Test series, the 26-year-old new-ball bowler has not just won hearts over in India and Australia. Like he'd promised the man who'd become his lifelong guide during their first meeting, Siraj has shown that he is indeed made for the big league. And that all he ever needed was a "little encouragement".

It's hard to deny that this has been the summer of Siraj. And that it was only apt that he would be the man leading the Indian team off the field for the final time in this Test series. That his last act with the ball on tour would be holding it up to loud cheers from everyone at the Gabba following his maiden five-wicket haul. That he would provide a poignant moment by raising both hands towards the heavens to salute his departed father.

It was a testament to how much he's grown as a cricketer over the last three weeks. It was a sign of how far he'd come as a person in the last two months. The look in his eye as he crossed the ropes and went straight into Jasprit Bumrah's outstretched arms was meanwhile an indicator that this is still just the beginning of the Mohammed Siraj story. That he indeed is set to go very far.

In Melbourne on debut, Siraj bowled like he's played 50 Tests. In Sydney, Siraj bowled with the control that someone with 50 Tests would have happily accepted. In Brisbane, he had to make himself out to be someone with an experience of 50 Tests to be able to lead a rag-tag attack. He'd after all played three times the number of games as most of his colleagues, in what was his third Test. Siraj looked like he belonged in each outing.

His rise though hasn't been only about emotions and sentiments. It's been if anything more about his temperament, composure and a whole lot of talent. At the MCG, he showed that he could not only bowl with control but also set batsman up, the way he did Cameron Green - three away followed by an in-dipper that the towering right-hander was completely flummoxed by. He was even better in the second innings, making up for the absence of Umesh Yadav, with a decisive three-wicket burst that knocked Australia out.

At the SCG in the first innings, he once again was the unsung hero, tying his end up with impressive consistency over his line and length of attack - at one stage going at less than 2 overs in a 9-over spell. He also showed the smarts to set David Warner up on his return innings by dragging the injured left-hander further and further away from his off-stump, even if gradually, before nicking him off. The delivery to Will Pucovski in the second innings squared up the debutant just like a very similar one did Marnus Labuschagne here at the Gabba on Monday (January 18).

In different circumstances, faced with different challenges, Siraj has shown the confidence to stick to what he does best and it's his energy that at times has kept India alive in this series, if not brought them back to life.

You could see he was missing Bumrah at the other end in the early part of Australia's first innings at the Gabba. Rather than letting it get to him, he instead took on the Bumrah role of being the unofficial leader of the bowling attack. In still only his third week as a Test cricketer, here was Siraj putting an arm around his relatively junior teammates - like he'd done with Navdeep Saini even in Sydney - and trying to pass on his confidence along with a word or two of encouragement. It meant that he had to be content with the solitary scalp of Warner in the first innings.

And again, with the stage set for Australia to finally dominate the Indians on Day 4 of the fourth Test, it was the tone set by Siraj that made sure that the visitors never quite let the home team off the hook. Their tentativeness allowed Siraj to rip through the middle-order and delay declaration thoughts. For a while both he and Shardul Thakur were stuck on four wickets. And the joy on the Mumbai seamer's face after taking the catch to give Siraj his fifth just told you how the Hyderabadi has grown into being the much-loved talisman of this battered and bruised Indian team.

It wasn't the first time they'd rallied around him though. Siraj had been informed about his late father's worsening health a couple of days before his demise. The team management had pulled him aside and informed that he wouldn't be able to go back home for the funeral and that his country needed him here. While every member of the Indian team passed on his condolences, fielding coach R Sridhar and Hanuma Vihari took up the role of being more hands-on guardians to the bereaved youngster.

The group bonded not just over the Hyderabadi twang they shared but also the fact Vihari had captained Siraj in his first-ever Ranji Trophy game in 2015 and shared a rapport with him. Sridhar spent the night with multiple video calls to see if he was getting any sleep or drinking enough water. The seasoned coach, and former Hyderabad cricketer, would continue to provide that support through the tour, even at times organising home-cooked biryani to be dropped off for Siraj at the hotel by his friends in Melbourne and Sydney. The trio would also make sure they spent time during the long days in the bubble talking about Hyderabad and reconnecting with the roots they shared.

It was Sridhar who Siraj would go to first with the initial complaint about the crowd abuse at the SCG. "Pata nahi kya yeh log bol raha hai miyan. Fielding nahi karne de rahe hai (Not sure what they're saying but are distracting me and not letting me field)," he'd say at first. It was later when he was asked to pay attention to what they were saying that he would hear the alleged racist slurs and take the matter to vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

Siraj though is believed to have recovered and overcome his grief rather quickly, even showing up for practice the day he'd been allowed to sit out.

"Dekh, tera abba ka dua tere saath hai. Kaheen na kaheen tu Test match khelega iss tour pe aur paanch wicket bhi lega(look you have your father's blessing. Somewhere on this tour you will play a Test and take a five-wicket haul)," is what head coach Ravi Shastri is learnt to have told Siraj after giving him a hug that day in Blacktown. It's the same day while the Indians partook in centre-wicket simulations that Siraj was identified as exactly the kind of bowler who could execute the team management's cunning plan of eliminating the off-side for the Aussies.

Deep inside Siraj knew he was going to make it. He knew he would end up as the star of the show. He had his father's blessing with him of course. But he also had the self-belief that told him he would. And just like he'd left an indelible mark on Bharat Arun with his infectious confidence all those years back, he looks set to do the same on world cricket for many years to come.