Mohammed Siraj has been absolutely on fire in this year’s Indian Premier League. He really shone in the recent game where the Gujarat Titans took down the Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets. Siraj had an incredible bowling performance, taking 4 wickets for just 17 runs, marking his best figures in the tournament so far. This all went down at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, which happens to be his home ground. After the game, you could tell how excited he was. He mentioned during the post-match ceremony that having his family in the crowd made a huge difference for him. “It’s a special feeling coming to your home ground, and with my family there cheering for me, it really lifted my spirits,” he said after being named Player of the Match.
Siraj has been with RCB for seven years now. He’s been focused on improving his bowling skills and getting his mindset right, and it seems to be working out great for him. At 31 years old, he faced some tough times recently. After the Border-Gavaskar series loss in Australia, he found himself not getting picked for the national team and even missed out on playing in India’s successful Champions Trophy 2025 run. Instead of letting that get him down, he decided to double down and work on his game. “At one point, it was hard to take, but I kept my chin up and focused on my fitness and skills. I identified the mistakes I was making and worked on fixing them. Now, I’m really enjoying my bowling,” he shared.
He also opened up about the doubts that crept into his mind after getting dropped from the team. “When you’re part of the Indian team for a long time and then find yourself out, it’s natural to question your abilities. But I kept my head up and looked forward to the IPL,” he explained.
As for how he actually bowled in this match, it was impressive from start to finish. He got off to a great start, taking out Travis Head in the first over, and followed that up by dismissing Abhishek Sharma during the powerplay. What stood out, though, was how well he bowled with the older ball. This was something he’d struggled with before, and even Rohit Sharma had pointed it out as an area for improvement before the Champions Trophy. In the last over of the innings, Siraj showed off some remarkable reverse swing skills, grabbing two more wickets and playing a key role in keeping SRH’s score low enough for the Titans to chase down easily. All in all, it was a fantastic performance that showed Siraj is back in top form and eager to keep it going.
