Mohammed Siraj taking wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore and doing the latest version of his trademark celebration had been a familiar sight. Nowadays, Mohammed Siraj points both fingers at his chest and down at the ground, does a bit of a twirl with his hand, and the spins around while crossing his hands to bring them back down beside him. He’s telling everyone that “I’m standing here”, while adding a bit of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The only thing was, this time Mohammed Siraj was doing it against Royal Challengers Bangalore, and not for them. Siraj played for RCB with distinction from 2018 to 2024, but in the IPL 2025 mega auction, he was bought by Gujarat Titans for a hefty INR 12.25 crore.
Every bit of that money would have seemed well-spent when watching him take 3 for 19 in four high-quality overs against his old franchise. In his first match back at his old home ground, Mohammed Siraj walked away with the Player of the Match award, and consigned RCB to their first defeat of IPL 2025. It was a happy homecoming for Mohammed Siraj, not so much for RCB.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru were handed their first defeat of the season following a clinical display from Gujarat Titans at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Wednesday (April 2). A former RCB man was at the forefront of their defeat as Mohammed Siraj set up Titans’ win with a terrific spell of bowling that was backed up by a belligerent bit of batting, led by Jos Buttler as the visitors won comfortably by eight wickets with 13 balls to spare.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : It’s pitch number 6 which wasn’t used last year. 68m and 61m square boundaries, the straight boundary is 73m. 68m and 74m pockets on either side of the straight boundary. The wicket looks pretty dry, but there could be good bounce. It’s well covered with grass and the pitch looks firm. It does look like a very good track, the ball should come on nicely.
Toss doesn’t really matter with 197 being the average first innings total, local knowledge says that dew could be a factor later on, opine Murali Kartik and Matthew Hayden, in their pitch report.
Toss : Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl with one change in the Playing XI with Kagiso Rabada making way for Mohd. Arshad Khan due to personal reasons. Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar batting first at his home ground made no changes in the Playing XI.
Home Returned Mohammed Siraj in GT colors restricts RCB for 169 for 8 with an electrifying 3-fer
It was a start not many had anticipated. Mohammed Siraj was bang on the money right from the start despite the fact that Virat Kohli drove him for a lovely boundary off just the second delivery. He should have had Phil Salt in the first over but Buttler dropped a regulation chance. However, he was relentless and managed to strike in his next over with a delivery that nipped back in sharply to shatter Devdutt Padikkal’s stumps.
Before that though, RCB were stung at the other end when Arshad Khan got the big fish when Kohli timed one straight to the fielder at deep backward square leg.
The powerplay still belonged to Mohammed Siraj though as he was given a third straight over by Gill. While Salt did break the shackles with a mammoth 105 metre six, Mohammed Siraj stormed back in style with a fuller delivery that just rattled the stumps. The surface certainly had something for the pacers as Prasidh Krishna managed to move the ball off the deck in his first over as well to round off the powerplay in fine fashion.
Mohammed Siraj has done his siuuu celebration several times at the Chinnaswamy in the last seven years. Most times, it has been met with a roaring response. On Wednesday, he went on his celebratory run twice in the powerplay to pin-drop silence. Having not been retained by RCB ahead of the auction, Siraj, now playing for GT, had matters to settle. And he did it in style.
It was his spell in the powerplay that stood out. Operating at mid-140kph, Mohammed Siraj was not just bowling heat but was also precise with his lengths. According to ESPNCricinfo’s data, of the 18 balls Mohammed Siraj bowled in the powerplay, six of his deliveries landed on a length, off which he picked up two wickets. More importantly, eight of his deliveries finished in line with the stumps, which meant he barely gave the batters any room to work with. RCB managed a control percentage of just 50 against Mohammed Siraj in the powerplay.
Mohammed Siraj should have had Phil Salt in his opening over, but Buttler dropped a sitter behind the stumps. Soon after, Siraj had the zing bails flashing when Devdutt Padikkal waltzed down the track, missed, and saw his stumps in a mess.
Salt thumped Siraj for a 105m six over midwicket in his next over, to which Siraj responded by flattening Salt’s off stump with a 145.9kph thunderbolt.
Ishant Sharma, handed the ball immediately after the conclusion of the sixth over, bowled a fuller delivery to get creamed for a boundary by RCB’s skipper Rajat Patidar. But the veteran immediately rectified the error and pulled his length back a touch to trap Patidar plumb in front to pile more misery on the home team.
Post that, Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma steadied the ship with a useful partnership. Jitesh was severe against Ishant as he picked him for a couple of fours and a six in a single over to take him out of the attack. Titans then bowled both Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan in tandem and even though the Afghanistan spinner was surprisingly expensive, the left-arm spinner helped his side wrest control.
Rahul Tewatia, who dropped a catch in Sai Kishore’s earlier over, held on to a chance from Jitesh this time. While Livingstone continued to thrive on some luck after Jos Buttler fumbled for the second time on the night, Sai Kishore bowled a well disguised carrom ball to account for Krunal Pandya’s wicket.
At 42 for 4 after 6.2 overs, RCB were in big trouble. Rajat Patidar had just fallen to Ishant Sharma, and the Chinnaswamy was silent. But Jitesh made his intentions clear quite early. He got going with a stylish pull off Ishant before going big. He first brought his wrists into play to loft Ishant over long-on, and dispatched him for two more fours as RCB collected 17 runs off the ninth over.
Livingstone, at the other end, was struggling to get away before finally walloping Rashid Khan over deep square leg. Livingstone was dropped twice, and also survived a missed stumping, and made the best of his luck. Jitesh and Krunal Pandya fell in quick succession to R Sai Kishore, who picked up 2 for 22 in his four overs, which included breaking a flourishing 52-run stand between Jitesh and Livingstone in the 13th over. He tossed one up at Jitesh, who ended up skying it to long-on.
Two overs later, Sai Kishore got Krunal when the ball seemed to hold on the pitch, and a leading edge went right back to the bowler. It was after that that Livingstone took over for RCB. He broke the shackles with a huge six over deep midwicket against Rashid, while David also hit a six and a four. Despite that, RCB were struggling on 129 for 6 after 17 overs.
An innings that was going nowhere especially after Sai Kishore’s twin strikes sparked to life after Livingstone took a liking to Rashid’s bowling. He hammered him for a six in his penultimate over but it was the final over that really hurt the Titans. Sai Kishore misjudged a catching opportunity near the boundary with the ball going over the ropes and Livingstone cashed in to smash two more deliveries over the ropes to provide plenty of cheer for the RCB faithful.
Mohammed Siraj later returned and picked up the key wicket of Livingstone in the 19th over to finish with 3 for 19, sending down 14 dots in his four overs.
In the process, he also brought up a fighting fifty. While Mohammed Siraj came back to bowl an excellent over to round off his night with Livingstone’s wicket, Prasidh was taken apart for 4,6,4 by Tim David as the score suddenly was on the brink of going past 170. Prasidh then cleaned up David with an inch perfect yorker of the final delivery as RCB finished with 169 – a total that looked unlikely by the end of the 15th over.
Livingstone pumped Rashid for three sixes in the 18th to reach his fifty off 39 balls. In all, he smashed Rashid for 39 runs off 17 deliveries, with five sixes. RCB tonked 64 runs in the last five overs, thanks largely to David’s hitting, as he thumped 32 off 18 balls. But 169 at the innings break looked under-par.
Super Consistent Sai Sudarshan and Jos Buttler’s 73 runs powers GT to 8 wicket win over hosts RCB
Given the purchase the Titans pacers found with the new ball, the challenge for Gill and Sai Sudarshan was always going to be against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood in the powerplay. Nothing much happened in the opening three overs before Sudarshan stunned Hazlewood with a ramp that went all the way before following it up with the most perfect straight drive for a four.
With a little bit of momentum, Gill smashed Bhuvneshwar for a massive six but in his attempt to repeat the shot off the very next ball, he perished after mistiming the ball. Titans finished the powerplay with 42/1 which was by no means extravagant but it was enough given there wasn’t a lot of damage after negating five overs of Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood.
Post the powerplay, it was just one-way traffic. Rasikh Salam was welcomed into the attack with a boundary each from Sudarshan and Buttler before the former England captain took on the young pacer yet again in an over that went for 18 runs. Sudarshan, who looked composed, pulled Krunal for a boundary and added two more boundaries off the left-arm spinner to stamp his authority.
Just when Titans were running away with the game, Hazlewood returned to dismiss Sudarshan who failed in his attempt to make a clean connection to another ramp. That didn’t deter Buttler though as he raced to his fifty with a four and a six off Livingstone whereas Sherfane Rutherford at the other end made a good start as well.
Buttler came into this IPL under pressure. He had just quit the England white-ball captaincy after a disastrous Champions Trophy, and he had not been among the runs either. He was going to a new IPL team after flourishing with Rajasthan Royals, and was going to bat at No. 3, having mostly opened previously.
But in just three innings, Buttler has proved that nothing has changed. He was coming into the game with scores of 70*, 8, 106*, 0, 0 and 100* against RCB since IPL 2022. On Wednesday, he shored up his record further.
Buttler came in to bat with GT struggling a touch. Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar were making the ball talk, and not giving much away. Gill struck Bhuvneshwar over long-on but fell the next ball, caught at deep third. At that stage, GT were 32 for 1 after 4.4 overs.
The chase was well and truly in GT’s control when the equation came down to 29 off 24 with. At that point, Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood had an over each left to bowl with RCB pinning their faintest of hopes on them. However, what followed suit was just terrific batting from both Buttler and Rutherford.
Buttler took his time to settle. At one point, he was on 5 off 8 balls, but he targeted Rasikh Salam, and just like that got into his stride. Buttler struck Rasikh for 27 off just 12 balls, and everything fell into place.
Sudarshan, at the other end, was at his fluent best as he scored 49 off 36 balls, and put on 75 with Buttler. Once Sudarshan fell, Buttler went up another gear and raced to his half-century off 31 balls. Rutherford, who came in at No. 4, also got going quickly as GT raced towards their target.
The West Indian pulled Bhuvneshwar for a massive six and Buttler followed it up with two outrageous sixes off Hazlewood that pretty much summed up the night for the home side. Rutherford then made it three sixes from the over with another pull to send the ball over the ropes to seal the win.
Their quick partnership helped GT improve their net run rate with a thumping win. RCB’s loss, meanwhile, pushed them to third place behind Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals. The difference in the amount of runs scored by both teams in the powerplay was just four. However, RCB lost two crucial extra wickets than Titans did and that eventually proved to be their undoing.
RCB made just 38 for 3 in the powerplay from which they didn’t recover for the major part of their innings. Titans lost their skipper Shubman Gill in the same phase but apart from his wicket, they remained solid and in control for large portions of the phase which paved the way for a big win.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Rajat Patidar the loosing RCB skipper said : Not 200, we were targeting around 190 after the powerplay, but losing early wickets harmed this match. I think the intent was good, but we shouldn’t have lost as many as 3 wickets in the PP, it was one wicket too many.
The conditions did get better, the bowlers were amazing trying to defend this total, to take this chase into the 18th over was amazing to watch. The way Jitesh, Liam Livingstone, and Tim David, the way they batted, it was a positive for us. We’re confident about the batting line-up, they’re showing some positive intent which is very good for us.
Shubman Gill the winning GT skipper said : We have seen on this ground.. restricting them to 170 was a good effort. The wicket has something in it sometimes; you can score 250 as well as get early wickets, there was something for the fast bowlers in the first 7-8 overs and we knew if we pick early wickets then we are in the game.
You are disappointed but you need to keep coming back, grab the next opportunity. We batted professionally considering the wicket. It is all about adapting to the situation and play according to that.
Mohammed Siraj Player of the Match for his 3-fer said : I was a bit emotional. I was here for 7 years, changed jersey from red to blue and was emotional but once I got the ball I was fine. I am Ronaldo’s fan and hence the celebration. I had been playing consistently, but during the break I corrected my mistakes and worked on my fitness.
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.
Mohammed Siraj’s fiery 3 for 19 against his former team, backed up by Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 73 off 39 balls, helped Gujarat Titans (GT) spoil Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)’s homecoming and coast to an eight-wicket victory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Playing against RCB for the first time after seven years with them, Mohammed Siraj returned to Bengaluru with a point to prove. Bowling at speeds in excess of 140kph, he rattled the batters in the powerplay and also picked up a key wicket in the death overs. Despite Mohammed Siraj’s efforts, RCB notched up 169 for 8, riding largely on Liam Livingstone’s fifty and cameos from Jitesh Sharma and Tim David.
With the ball, Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were on the mark in the powerplay for RCB. But as the ball got older, the bowling also fizzled away. While Shubman Gill fell cheaply, Sai Sudarshan and Buttler added 75 off just 47 balls to give the chase impetus. Sherfane Rutherford then came in as Impact Sub and added an unbroken 63 off 32 balls with Buttler, as GT romped home with 13 balls to spare. This was GT’s second win in three games, while RCB’s loss was their first of IPL 2025 after two stellar wins.
If you ever need to show how a team needs to adapt at away venues in the IPL then this game should be the template. Gujarat Titans were excellent in assessing the conditions. The new ball was the most difficult phase to bat and the openers – Gill and Sudarshan – took minimal risk. The first wicket came in the 5th over but after the Titans had gotten off to a steady start. After that the pair of Sudarshan and Buttler kept the asking rate in check as they picked up a boundary in every over after the powerplay.
Hazlewood was brought back and he broke the 75-run stand but that was the only stutter in the chase as Buttler and Rutherford cruised towards the target. RCB were well short with the bat and it didn’t help that their bowlers could not keep the pressure in the middle overs. First home game for them and a first defeat as well.
RCB started strongly with a win against the defending champions at Eden Gardens and breaking the Chepauk jinx but were found short in their home conditions once again – that’s been their IPL story and something they need to change if they are to challenge for the title. GT on the other hand have put the loss in their opening game behind them and recorded two convincing wins. Sudarshan looks in fine form, Buttler was back to his best while Mohammed Siraj and Sai Kishore have been excellent with the ball.
Two wins on the trot would give Titans a lot of confidence going into their next game against SRH in Hyderabad. RCB will have a four day break before they travel to Mumbai for another away game.
Also Read: RCB vs GT: Mohammed Siraj ‘s Villain Home Coming Ruins RCB