Mohammed Siraj’s journey with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been nothing short of roller coaster ride full of ups and downs. Siraj had seen both highs and the lows of IPL in a very short span of time and has had to deal with intense criticism on social media. After a disappointing last season where he managed only 7 wickets in 9 games, the RCB pacer has made a good start this year.
He was the destructor-in-chief for RCB as the Virat Kohli-led side thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by eight wickets in their last encounter in IPL 2020. Siraj bowled a dream opening spell to get RCB off to a strong start after they were asked to bowl first in Abu Dhabi. Siraj bowled back-to-back maidens and picked up three wickets in the Powerplay.
With the help of Siraj’s exceptional opening spell and contributions from other bowlers, RCB managed to restrict KKR on a low-key total of 84/8 in 20 overs. Siraj became the first bowler in the history of IPL to bowl back-to-back maidens in a single match and finished with figures of 3/8 in his 4 overs. RCB won the game by 8 wickets after chasing down the target with 6.3 overs to spare.
Siraj recalled his cricketing journey in a recent interview with RCB where he recalled advice from none other than MS Dhoni which has stuck with him and has helped him deal with criticism on social media.
“Mahi Bhai (MS Dhoni) always says to not take the opinion of others seriously. If you have one bad game they will tell you, you are not good enough. If you keep thinking about those you will go mad. Rather you think that the next match if you do well, the same set of people will start praising you and call you a good bowler,” said Siraj in a video shared by RCB on their official Twitter handle.
Siraj will be up against Dhoni on Sunday when RCB take on Chennai Super Kings in their eleventh game of IPL 2020 season. The right-arm pacer will be looking to continue delivering the goods with the ball as RCB aim to secure playoffs qualification early in the tournament. RCB had defeated CSK by 37 runs in the last meeting between the two sides.
Source: Times Now
