'When I Woke up...': Mohammed Siraj Reveals he Wasn't Sure of Playing Against Gujarat Titans

For Mohammed Siraj, it was mind over matter as he pushed his physically indisposed self to the limits to earn ‘Player of the Match’ award as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Gujarat Titans by 4 wickets in their IPL 2024 clash at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

IPL 2024: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans – HIGHLIGHTS | REPORT

Coming off a short-break, the pacer looked a far improved version of himself after the struggles of initial stages where he sprayed the ball all around.

He consumed Wriddhiman Saha with a fine outswinger which the GT opener wafted to Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps.

Shubman Gill followed soon as his attempted swat to the on-side of Siraj took a leading edge and ended in the hands of Vysakh Vijayakumar at deep point.

Siraj said that he was not feeling well and thought he wouldn’t play in this game, adding that his hard work has paid off with the new ball but he was thinking of taking a rest in this game.

He also mentioned that he dreamt about getting Saha out caught behind and exactly that happened.

“I was really ill for the last few days. Thought I might not be able to play today but I really wanted to play so it was great that I was able to,” Siraj said after the match.

“When I woke up in the morning, I thought I won’t be able to play and that I should take rest. When I woke up, I manifested what I wanted to do and that’s exactly what happened,” he added.

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That GT managed to strike just two fours in the Powerplay offered ample evidence to their struggle and RCB bowlers’ accuracy. The Gujarat side’s Powerplay score of 23 for three was the lowest in the phase this season and it was mainly due to Siraj’s domination upfront.

While Siraj wasn’t well, in his mind, he had envisaged how to bowl that perfectly pitched up delivery which will grow big on the batter and there couldn’t have been a better execution against Wriddhiman, who didn’t have the technique to handle such a ball.

Sirj added he has played a lot of Tests and it is tough to adjust to this format right away but he is getting his rhythm back.

“Not easy to switch between red and white ball cricket. You need to give your 110% every ball here,” he said.

(With inputs from Agencies)