Siddharth gained the spotlight for his ability to swing the ball despite being a spinner.
Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) bowling sensation Manimaran Siddharth has been another great find of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) season. During LSG’s match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), he also got the prized scalp of star batter Virat Kohli.
Siddharth gained the spotlight for his little-known left-arm fingerspin bowling action, where he can swing the ball despite being a spinner.
This is exactly why LSG bid up to INR 2.4 crore for him at the auction and backed him to bowl with the new ball against Kohli and Faf du Plessis.
Speaking about how he landed on the bowling style, M Siddharth said in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda before IPL 2024, “I actually wanted to bowl like Irfan Pathan [laughs]. But when you think about it, when you want to do certain things in life, they just come out differently. But they do come out. So I feel the arm ball has come like that and I am happy about it. I can’t do it in fast bowling, but it is coming out like this.”
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Originally from Jakarta, Indonesia, Siddharth spent his early years there until he was eight years old when his parents decided to move to Chennai to provide better opportunities for his cricketing ambitions.
However, Siddharth’s journey was not without challenges, marked by moving base between countries and struggles with injuries.
The turning point in Siddharth’s cricketing career occurred when Indian and Tamil Nadu spinner Washington Sundar, who is now a close friend of Siddharth’s, recommended that he train under the guidance of AC Prathiban, a former First-Class cricketer.
This pivotal choice played a critical role in shaping Siddharth’s journey from uncertainties to accomplishments in the cricketing world.
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