IPL 2022: 3 best Mohammed Siraj spells in the IPL
The 49th clash of IPL 2022, between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, will take place at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday, May 4. So far this season, RCB have won five and lost five matches while CSK have won three and lost six. The last time the two met, the defending champions marked their first victory of the season by 23 runs.
CSK have had plenty of issues in their opening few games but players like Dwayne Bravo, Mukesh Choudhary and Maheesh Theekshana have been consistent. Also, CSK is looking a more positive unit with 'Captain Cool' MS Dhoni back at the helm after Ravindra Jadeja relinquished the captaincy.
Although RCB openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis are still finding their feet, the middle-order consisting of Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik and Shahbaz Ahmed have been terrific this season. Wanindu Hasarnaga, Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel have been brilliant with the ball. Another bowler stepping up for RCB is Mohammed Siraj.
Although Siraj has picked up only eight wickets in 10 games in IPL 2022, he has a total of 58 scalps in 60 games under his belt. Siraj has also been RCB's go-to man and rescued his IPL team from the jaws of defeat on several occasions. Let's take a look at Mohammed Siraj's three best bowling spells in the league's history:
#1 4/32 - GL vs SRH in IPL 2017
Back when Siraj used to bowl for SunRisers Hyderabad, he picked up his IPL career best figures in the clash against the Gujarat Lions in 2017. SRH won the toss and asked Gujarat to bat first.
The openers for the Lions, Dwayne Smith and Ishan Kishan, put on an opening stand of 111 runs. Dwayne Smith was sent back by Rashid Khan after scoring a half-century but Kishan held his ground. It was only when Mohammed Siraj came on again that Kishan was dismissed before he could do any further damage.
Siraj went on to pick up the wickets of Suresh Raina, James Faulkner and Pradeep Sangwan to help restrict GL to 154. SRH chased down the target in 18.1 overs with the help of David Warner and Vijay Shankar, and Siraj was, rightfully, adjudged Player of the Match for his 4/32.
#2 3/8 - RCB vs KKR in IPL 2020
Mohammed Siraj had one of his best seasons in IPL 2020. He registered his best bowling figures for that season in RCB's second game against KKR. Kolkata won the toss and elected to bat first.
They soon regretted their decision, finding themselves at 14/4. Mohammed Siraj meant business the moment he was handed the ball and went right for the top performers. He picked up the prized scalps of Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana and Tom Banton. KKR was restricted to a mere 84/8 as Siraj ended up with 3/8 in his four, including two maidens.
In response, RCB finished the game with 39 balls and eight wickets to spare. Siraj was yet again declared Player of the Match for his brilliant performance.
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#3 3/27 - RCB vs RR in IPL 2021
Although the batters took away the game for RCB in the 16th clash of IPL 2021 against the Rajasthan Royals, the Bangalore bowlers' contribution was equally significant.
Rajasthan were put into bat but failed to get going. When the ball was thrown to Siraj, he managed to pick up the man in form, Jos Buttler, for 8. He later dismissed the dangerous David Miller for a duck and eventually Rahul Tewatia (40) before he could seriously dig in his heels.
Rajasthan still managed to post a target of 178 but the Rajasthan bowlers weren't ready for Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal. The RCB openers stitched together a 181-run partnership as they chased down the target in 16.3 overs with all 10 wickets intact. Although the spotlight was on the batters, Siraj's 3/27 played a key role in RCB's win that day.