‘Leader Mohammed Siraj gains swing, aggression’ as RCB, India’s hopes run high. cricket news

Mohammed Siraj’s turnaround in fortunes has played a key role in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s late surge in this IPL, and the fast bowler’s good performance may also have provided relief to the Indian think tank ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup. In the latest show of his turnaround, Siraj destroyed Gujarat Titans by taking two wickets in the power play, taking the wickets of Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha. Siraj’s figures in that phase were a brilliant 2-0-9-2, and as the man earmarked to share the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah in the ICC showpiece, this is certainly a good opportunity for the national team as well.

RCB assistant coach Adam Griffiths, who has worked with Siraj for the last five years, described the change as “getting the ball swinging again”. “He is the leader of our group. He has played a lot for India over the last few years and has done really well. It is not just his good bowling. It is his aggression, his body language, he wants the batsmen to take wickets. Let’s try.” That’s an important part of what we’re trying to do.

“Keeping it up and swinging the ball again, bowling at a good pace and being aggressive is very important for us,” Griffith said in the post-match press meet here on Saturday after RCB beat GT by four wickets.

The performance of the Royal Challengers bowling unit – a collective economy rate of 10.28 and 45 wickets – was the worst in the IPL this season.

In a way, it was Siraj’s responsibility as the leader to inspire the rest of the group and he lent his hand.

Perhaps, the nine-day break he was given between April 12 and 20 refreshed his mind and helped him regain his sharpness.

Meanwhile, the match he missed was the match in which Sunrisers Hyderabad made an IPL record of 287 runs for three wickets in Bengaluru.

Griffith explained the thought process behind giving Siraj some free time.

“When they are tired they are just like any other player. It is very important to give them breaks. It is as important as the training component, sometimes even more important.”

“He is a rhythmic bowler – his run-up is very important for what he does. So, we want him to be fresh and run hard,” he said.

After returning from the break, Siraj played four matches against Kolkata Knight Riders, SRH and two against GT. While RCB lost by one run against the Knight Riders in one high-scoring match, it won the other three.

Siraj’s figures in those three matches were 4-0-20-0, 4-0-34-1 and 4-0-29-2.

Griffith said that Siraj has found a good balance between off-time and preparation.

“He knows his body really well. He knows what he needs to do to prepare and from time to time we may need to give him a little nudge in that direction.

“I’ve been with him for five years, so I can tell when he’s doing well and when he needs rest,” he said.

This version of Siraj is reminiscent of IPL 2023 when he took 19 wickets and 10 of them were in the power play.

It seems that Siraj’s energy has extended to other bowlers as well as young Yash Dayal bowled an economical and productive spell of 4-0-21-2.

This meant that the Titans were restricted to their lowest power play score of this IPL season – 23/3.

Griffith said that RCB bowlers have collectively managed to hit better lines as they have registered three wins on the bounce.

“We have already turned the ball over throughout the tournament. We talked about bowling a lot of straight and attacking the stumps as much as possible to challenge the batsmen’s defense and force them to play aggressive shots if they want to come at us.

“It’s a challenge for them and the boys put them where we wanted them (against GT),” he said.