Mohammed Siraj was at his best in Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS) with an economical four-fer at IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. Siraj did not just provide early wickets with the new ball but bowled well at the death as well.
After registering his best-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) bowling figures of 4/21, Siraj revealed that he made some changes during the Covid-19 lockdown.
“First ball the length was a bit short and then I sensed need to bowl full to get some swing and that was the plan (for first wicket). The lockdown was really important for me, because I used to get hit for boundaries very often before that. I worked on my plans, my fitness and my bowling and it's all paying dividends now,” Siraj said in the post-match presentation.
In addition to taking four wickets, he also pulled off PBKS stand-in skipper Sam Curran's wicket with a direct hit.
“I always try to improve in every department of the game because I understand it is important to contribute in whichever way possible. Always rated myself as a decent fielder, misfields can happen but I take my fielding seriously,” the RCB pacer added.
Siraj got the wicket of opener Atharva Taide off the second ball of the match. He appealed for lbw but the umpire said no. He convinced skipper Virat Kohli to take a review and it went in RCB's favour. In his next over, he trapped England's hard-hitting batter Liam Livingstone. Once again, DRS helped RCB take the wicket.
He bowled the 18th over of the innings against a rampant Jitesh Sharma. He got the wicket of Harpreet Brar who went for a wild slog by getting him bowled. He bowled another yorker to sign off with the wicket of tailender Nathan Ellis.
The 29-year-old is currently leading the purple cap race with 12 wickets from six innings at an average of 13.41 and a strike rate of 12. There is a drastic improvement in his economy rate which is 6.70 runs per over so far.
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