It was an emotional moment for Mohammed Siraj when he got the ball in hand to bowl the first over of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans IPL 2025 match.
For all these years, he has had the noisy Chinnaswamy crowd behind him and the towering presence of Virat Kohli, egging him on from the inner ring. But not on April 2 (Wednesday). He was up against not only the loyal and, at times, intimidating Chinnaswamy crowd but also against Kohli.
Siraj ran in with full thrust but pulled up midway. This is nothing unusual for a fast bowler; it’s quite common for them to miss their run-up and abort. But such was the occasion and emotions attached to Siraj that the internet believed Siraj could not bowl the first ball to Kohli as he was playing against RCB in Bengaluru. The fast bowler himself indirectly admitted the same after the match.
“It was emotional because I played for seven years here (for RCB). There was some nervousness and some emotion but the moment I got the ball in my hand, it was full-on,” he said.
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However, there were no signs of never once Siraj got in the goove. Siraj, who India dropped for the Champions Trophy, looked like a man with a point to prove to the national selectors and the RCB management as he took 3-19.
RCB released Siraj after last season and the India fast bowler was bought by Gujarat for $1.4 million in the November auction.
Siraj has begun to justify his price tag by taking five wickets in three matches this season, bowling with pace and accuracy. He could have got a wicket in the very first over of the match had Jos Buttler not dropped a simple catch of Phil Salt. The pacer didn’t let the disappointments get to him as he cleaned up Devdutt Padikkal in his next over.
In his third over in the powerplay, Siraj, despite getting clobbered for a monstrous six by Salt, came back strongly by uprooting the RCB keeper’s off stump in the next ball. Later in the innings, Siraj also accounted for RCB’s top-scorer of the day, Liam Livingstone for 54.
Siraj credited GT head coach Ashish Nehra for giving him confidence.
“I was playing matches consistently, so was not realizing the mistakes I was making. In the break, focused on my bowling, on my fitness and when I joined GT, I spoke to Ashu bhai (Ashish Nehra) and the ball is coming out nicely now. He asked me to just enjoy myself and do whatever I wanted.”
Apart from coach Nehra, Siraj has a wealth of experience in the GT camp to fall back to. He said he regularly discusses with partners Ishant Sharma and Kagiso Rabada.
“I talk to them (Rabada, Ishant and other bowling partners) and get feedback which is really helpful. As a bowler, I want to always have belief – that is an important thing. If that is not there, you panic (when you get hit). I have belief that I can do well, irrespective of wherever I am playing and that is my mindset.”