Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Mohammed Siraj heaped praise on his teammate Shahbaz Ahmed after his game-changing bowling against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their second game in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) on Wednesday (April 14).
Defending 149 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the left-arm spinner Shahbaz took the crucial wicket of Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, and Abdul Samad in the 17th over to change the course of the game.
The all-rounder’s stunning spell brought the RCB back into the game and eventually beat SRH by 6 runs to give the franchise its second consecutive win in the ongoing IPL 14.
Siraj feels Shahbaz has justified his selection in the playing eleven with his match-winning performance on Wednesday in Chennai.
Siraj said in the post-match press conference: “Both Shahbaz Ahmed and Rajat Patidar (who played the last game as Devdutt Padikkal was unavailable) have been brilliant in the practice games.
Shahbaz, as an all-rounder, gives us that extra option with his left-arm spin. The wicket was slow and turning also. Shahbaz Ahmed fitted into it for this game and did the job for us,”
The pacer further said, “We had overs left of Washington Sundar too. But Virat Bhai (Kohli) thought with two right-handers at the crease, a left-arm spinner could be brought. He created a chance with Manish Pandey in his first over, and that's why he bowled another, and that changed the game for us.”
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Siraj himself was also impressive against SRH as he bowled a maiden over in the IPL 2021 game and took 2 scalps while conceding just 25 runs in his four overs on Wednesday.
He signed off by saying about his performance, “I just try to swing the ball with the new ball. I got swing the first ball and I thought to do more of that and get a couple of wickets. The dew factor is also there and we have to overcome that. I always aim to hit back of a length and let the batsmen make mistakes.”
(With PTI Inputs)
