Royal Challengers Bangalore fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has taken giant strides in the last few months. Siraj believes playing Test cricket for the national team and sharing the dressing room with experienced bowlers like Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah has helped him immensely.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj was backed by RCB captain Virat Kohli to bowl the final over against Delhi Capitals at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday when 14 runs were required. Shimron Hetmyer and Rishabh Pant were going all guns blazing but Siraj was able to keep his nerves.
The right-arm fast bowler from Hyderabad, backed his yorkers in the final over and he was able to deliver the goods for the team as he took his side to victory by one run. In fact, Siraj was right on the money on the first four balls. The penultimate ball was a high full toss which was hit for a four by Rishabh Pant and the final ball also received the same treatment.
Mohammed Siraj said in the post-match presentation, “I was only thinking that my yorker’s coming out well. It’s what I execute in tough situations, so I was confident in my yorker. That’s all I was thinking about. If you aren’t clear you’ll miss your execution, and so I went in with clarity. If they hit you, you can’t help that, you just execute. Confidence has played a big part in my game. Playing Test cricket has improved my line and length and I’ve just been bowling that. It also helped to learn from players like Ishant and Bumrah”.
On the other hand, Siraj was able to get the big wicket of Steve Smith as he got the ball to move away and produced the outside edge of the talisman, which was taken by AB de Villiers. Siraj was on the expensive side though as he conceded 44 runs in his four overs.
Meanwhile, Siraj has scalped six wickets in as many games in the ongoing season as he has bowled with an average of 27.83 and an economy rate of 7.26. Thus, there is no doubt that Siraj is a much improved bowler after making his International career. Sharing the dressing room with experienced bowlers has definitely helped him and he has grown in confidence and the same is palpable in his performances.
