Mohammed Siraj staged a grand comeback at the Chinnaswamy Stadium against his former team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on 2nd April 2025. Siraj, who was not retained by RCB in the IPL 2025 Mega Auctions, was picked up by Gujarat Titans (GT) for a whopping sum of Rs. 12.75 crores.
Siraj bowled exceedingly well and bagged 3 wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and it was a treat for the sore eyes. He was visibly emotional when he was steaming in to bowl and even stopped and stuttered once while bowling to his idol and former captain, Virat Kohli.
Former Indian captain and buccaneering opener Virender Sehwag sang praises for the bowler from Hyderabad.
“He maintained his record with the new ball in Chinnaswamy. He gave away only 12 or 13 runs in the first three overs. He could’ve probably bowled the fourth over at the same time, too, he might have taken another wicket. He swings the new ball, and yesterday, he also got help from the wicket. He has that fire. And somewhere I feel he is hurt that he wasn’t part of the Champions Trophy squad, and I saw that fire. That’s what we expect from a young fast bowler. ‘Yeah, you didn’t pick me? Now I will show you.’ I hope he continues with the same intensity and makes a comeback in the Indian team,” said Virender Sehwag in a show on CricBuzz.
Mohammed Siraj helped demolish RCB
On the back of Siraj’s fiery bowling, Gujarat restricted Bengaluru to a modest total of 169 runs. Siraj took the wickets of Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal and Liam Livingstone and bowled well not only with the new ball but also at the death overs.
If Siraj hadn’t taken the wicket of Livingstone in the 19th over, RCB could have posted a bigger total at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Notably, the English all-rounder was batting on 54 runs in just 39 balls when Siraj did the trick. Livignstone was the lone thread of hope of RCB and Siraj helped wound his former teammates.
RCB suffer their first defeat in IPL 2025
After defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings, RCB were vying for a hat-trick of wins. But Gujarat Titans comprehensively defeated Rajat Patidar and co. by 8 wickets.
RCB next cross swords with Mumbai Indians (MI) on 7th April 2025 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
