Former India opener Virender Sehwag has criticized Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for releasing Mohammed Siraj, claiming that former captains Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis failed to use the right-arm pacer effectively during powerplays.
"In franchise cricket, there is no guarantee that a team will retain you. He has gone to Gujarat, and in three years, they might not retain him as well. Players need to get used to it," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz before the RCB versus GT clash in Bengaluru.
"Today, when he plays against RCB, the franchise where he has spent seven years, he will play to prove a point. You let me go, and now I will get the wickets of your batters," he added.
Siraj was signed by Gujarat Titans for Rs 12.25 crore in the mega auction last November. He made his IPL debut in 2017 for Sunrisers Hyderabad and then moved to RCB in 2018 for Rs 2.20 crore.
Siraj went on to play seven seasons for RCB and rose in stature as a bowler. However, he was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2025 grand auction, and they also didn’t exercise the Right to Match (RTM) card to retain him.
"Against MI, he dismissed Rohit Sharma. He was not picked for the Champions Trophy, and he got the wicket of the Indian captain. He will be determined to perform well against RCB so that the franchise realizes what they have missed," Sehwag said.
"RCB missed a trick by letting Siraj go. His stats are so good in the powerplays. It was in the death overs where he struggled.
"Take an example of how MS Dhoni used Deepak Chahar over the years; he used to bowl him out inside the powerplay. Rajasthan Royals used to do a similar thing with Trent Boult. They never had to bowl him in the death overs.
"RCB captains over the years failed to make the most out of Mohammed Siraj. In the last overs, every bowler will get hit. I have not seen any bowler who has not conceded runs in the slog overs, be it Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Shami, or Jasprit Bumrah; everyone concedes runs in the last over," he remarked.
On Wednesday (April 2), Siraj starred with the ball in GT’s eight-wicket victory over RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He returned with the figures of 3 for 19 in four overs, helping his team restrict the hosts to 169/8 in 20 overs.
Chasing 170, the Titans got over the line with eight wickets in hand and 13 deliveries to spare. Jos Buttler starred with the bat as he scored 73* off 39 balls, while Sai Sudharsan (49 off 36) and Sherfane Rutherford (30* off 18) made notable contributions with the bat.
After bagging the Player-of-the-Match award, Siraj said: “I was a bit emotional. I was here for 7 years, changed jersery from red to blue and was emotional but once I got the ball I was fine. Once I was picked up by Gujarat Titans, I spoke to Ashish Bhai. He (Nehra) tells me to go enjoy your bowling and Ishu (Ishant) Bhai tells me what line and length to bowl. My mindset is to have belief and then the pitch does not matter.”
