Shortly after calming a fervent crowd in Chinnaswamy, his former IPL home ground, Mohammed Siraj dominated his new-ball duties on Sunday against a spirited Sunrisers Hyderabad lineup in a more comfortable home ground. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, the daring opening duo who averaged 70.25 at a scoring of 14.53 runs per over in victories, compared to 14 and 8.5 in losses, were once again the key to SRH’s aspirations going into the match. Siraj removed both in less than 30 minutes, bowling an incredible 13 dots in his three-over new ball burst.
In the IPL 2025 powerplay, Siraj has already amassed 6/69 from 11 overs (ER: 6.27). After the first 19 games, no bowler has taken more wickets in this phase. Only Josh Hazlewood (72.2%) has a better dot-ball percentage than his hardly credible 63.6% among those who have bowled at least two overs in the powerplay. He often hits that mark and keeps hitters on their toes with deliveries of decent length, which have given him all six wickets.
Head was caught at mid-wicket after hitting the boundary twice in his opening over on Sunday, one of which was uncontrolled. In the following one, Abhishek was under constant strain, playing five consecutive dots while pressed for space. On the sixth, he just managed to clear mid-off. Soon later, Siraj had his chance when he caught the left-hander off a mistimed loft at mid-on. Later, he discovered some reverse swing as well, finishing with a T20 career best of 4/17 after taking two more wickets at the back end.
Before Shreyas Iyer and Priyansh Arya took 45 from overs 4-6 to set up a commanding 243/5, Siraj had previously returned 0/14 from his two overs in the Powerplay against Punjab Kings. Within the first three overs of their run-chase, both MI openers were bowled out, with the most notable being the one that nipped in sharply to get past Rohit Sharma’s defense. When Devdutt Padikkal and Phil Salt attempted to move his lengths, their stumps were rocked. Take into account that the former had already survived once before when Jos Buttler made a simple catch.
Siraj in Overs 1-6 in IPL 2025 (by lengths)
Full (6.06%): 0/4 (4 balls, ER: 6)
Good (65.15%): 6/45 (43 balls, ER: 6.27)
Short (28.78%): 0/20 (19 balls, ER: 6.31)
Powerplays have always been a deciding element in IPL outcomes, and Siraj has experienced this firsthand. Siraj played in six home games last season, and RCB won four of them. In those games, the right-arm quick took four wickets at an economy rate of eight with the new ball. He returned 0/42 from three overs combined in the other two. His powerplay stats in victories and losses over his IPL career have been in sharp contrast.
Mohammed Siraj in Overs 1-6 in the IPL
| Result | Overs | Wks | Ave | SR | ER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Wins | 92 | 30 | 22.56 | 18.4 | 7.35 |
| In Defeats | 76 | 12 | 57.33 | 38 | 9.05 |
Over their stellar first two seasons, Gujarat Titans quicks amassed 50 powerplay wickets, 12 more than the next-best RCB (38, of which 15 were taken by Siraj). The GT seamers finished tenth in the league in 2024, scoring 9.42 runs per over in the first six overs of the season, the highest of the ten clubs. Mohammed Shami took 28 of those 50 wickets, and his services were obviously missed.
Siraj became the first Indian player to take five wickets in the opening ten overs of an ODI (including four in the same over!) when he destroyed Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2023 final less than two years ago. He also played a key role in the team’s quick ascent to the World Cup 2023 final. This has been a fantastic start if the previous Champions Trophy snub has really stoked a desire for atonement.
