“I was very sick, I felt I wouldn’t be able to play”: Mohammed Siraj on the victory program against GT

For Mohammed Siraj, it was a matter of mind as he pushed his physical ailment to the limit to win the ‘Player of the Match’ award in RCB’s four-wicket victory over Gujarat Titans in an IPL match here on Saturday. Siraj removed openers Wriddhiman Saha and opposition captain Shubman Gill in his first spell to push GT off the back foot and this went a long way in restricting the visitors to a modest 147. “I have been very ill for the last few days. I thought that I might not be able to play today , but I really wanted to play, so it was great to be able to play,” Siraj said after the match.

Although he was not well, in his mind he imagined how he would bowl that perfectly pitched delivery which will grow a lot on the batsman and there could not have been any better execution against Wriddhiman who did not have the technique to deal with such a ball.

“When I woke up in the morning I thought I couldn’t play and that I should rest. When I woke up, I expressed what I wanted to do and that’s exactly what happened,” said Siraj.

RCB captain Faf du Plessis looked happy having won three matches in a row.

“We have been very good in the last few games, the way we have played with bat and ball. We have been unbelievable on the field. Something around 180-90 would have been a good result,” said Du Plessis.

Du Plessis’s 63 off 24 balls with 10 fours and three sixes went a long way in ensuring RCB moved up to seventh position as they finished the game in just under 14 overs. “It’s probably not the best, but you’re trying to be positive, increase your net run rate. It makes sense from that point of view, but it gets to the point where you need to show a bit of calm and composure – probably around four under, so some lessons to be learned from that.” Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill said his team can now only focus on winning the remaining games and controlling the controllable ones “It depends on the wicket. In the first two overs you get a good idea and play accordingly. I think 170-80 on that wicket would have been a good total. The way we batted in the powerplay and how they bowled decided the game,” he said.

“We would have an extra bowler but we would lose three wickets in the powerplay (change of planning). It is very important to start from scratch in our next match and move forward in this game. Learn from mistakes and not repeat them. It’s all about winning from from here on.”

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