Siraj claimed 3-17 as Gujarat Titans beat RCB at home in IPL 2025
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made two big decisions ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 auction. They decided not to retain skipper Faf du Plessis and also premier pacer Mohammed Siraj.
While the captaincy question continued even after Rajat Patidar’s appointment until RCB hit peak form, the decision to let go Siraj was a strange case.
The star pacer spent his best seven years with RCB after his debut season in 2017 and was believed to be a core team player.
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54/0
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He was eventually bought by Gujarat Titans in the auction for INR 12.25 crore and looked fired up after being snubbed for the Champions Trophy 2025. He went on to claim 16 wickets from 15 innings, including 3-19 in the win over his former side at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“It was emotional because I played for seven years here (for RCB). There was some nervousness and some emotion but the moment I got the ball in my hand, it was full-on,” Siraj said in the post-match presentation.
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After that match, it seemed like letting Siraj go was a mistake by RCB, it turned out to be the right one as they went on to win the title for the first time ever.
RCB’s Director of cricket Mo Bobat revealed in an interview with Cricbuzz that they had the ‘longest time’ to deliberate on leaving Siraj as they had prioritised bringing back veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar due to his prowess with the new ball and at the death.
“We were keen to try and get Bhuvi and we felt like hanging on to Siraj would make it difficult to get Bhuvi,” Bobat told Cricbuzz.
Bhuvneshwar was bought in the auction for INR 10.75 crore and his signing had a big impact on RCB’s bowling performances. Even though the 35-year-old was not the frugal pacer he once was, he bowled the tough overs and took multiple hits while the likes of Yash Dayal and Josh Hazlewood got the wickets to win matches.
Despite having an economy of 9.28, Bhuvneshwar claimed 17 wickets at an average of 28.
