RP Singh Made A Big Prediction About This IPL Star: Royal Challengers Bangalore has had a hot and cold season so far in the ongoing 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League. One of the biggest positives for the RCB side has been their powerplay bowling. RCB has impressed one and all with their impressive bowling performance in the ongoing season. They are being hailed as the fiercest bowling side with the new ball.
Mohammed Siraj Made A Solid Comeback
So far, they have picked 22 wickets at an economy of just 7.3 and a strike rate of 14.7, in the 9 games they have played. And the credit for the same goes to the man who is behind RCB’s improved powerplay numbers — Mohammed Siraj.
Many praised RCB’s decision when they retained Siraj ahead of the mega-auction ahead of the 2022 season. However, he failed to give the most of his abilities in the 2022 season, with RCB even dropping him for a game. Siraj’s economy rate of 10.23 was the worst.
However, Siraj has made a solid comeback in white-ball cricket. In the 20 ODI matches he played for India since June 2022, he picked 38 wickets at just 19. 24 of those wickets came with the new ball at an economy rate of just 4.38.
All thanks to his sensational performances, he has claimed the No.1 spot on the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings for bowlers in January this year. He also continued with his purple patch in the T20I format as he picked six wickets in the New Zealand series in November for just five runs an over in two games.
In the ongoing 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League, Siraj has emerged as a leading new-ball bowler. Out of the 15 wickets he has picked in the ongoing season in 9 games, 8 came in the powerplay.
RP Singh Is Very Impressed With Siraj
Meanwhile, impressed with his performances, the former Indian cricketer explained that Siraj has been reaping the rewards of his hard work. He said:
“I have been following Siraj for a long time now. When he joined the Indian team, his graph was really high and then slowly it started falling. But it is good to see that he has worked on a lot of things this time, fitness being a major point. Now if you look at the technical bit, he has worked a lot on his wrist position and follow through for which he is getting the ball top bounce better and is also bowling stump-to-stump,”
RP Singh further highlighted how an improved Siraj gives Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid the option to look beyond an injury-prone Jasprit Bumrah. He said:
“Of course, he can be a replacement for Bumrah. In fact, I feel, if his graph continues to increase he can be the next Mohammed Shami,”
