Royal Challengers Bengaluru have slowed down their pace spearhead Mohammed Siraj for the crucial game against Sunrisers Hyderabad as they desperately look for a win to stay in contention for a playoff spot in IPL 2024.
The Bengaluru-based team is on the verge of bowing out of IPL 2024 in the league stage once again after managing to win just one of its first six games. They are currently languishing at the bottom of the points table with just two points and need something extraordinary to turn things around.
One of the main reasons behind RCB’s struggle this season is the poor performance of their players. While a lot was expected from Mohammed Siraj, the Indian star has so far failed to live up to the expectations. In six games, he got just four wickets and had an economy rate of 10.40.
Mohammed Siraj dropped from the eleven:
In the first game of the season against Chennai Super Kings, Mohammed Siraj conceded 38 runs and went wicketless as RCB lost that game by six wickets. In the second game against Punjab Kings, he did well and picked up two wickets for 26 runs as RCB won the game to get off the mark in IPL 2024.
He has struggled to do well ever since. In the third and fourth games, he conceded 46 and 47 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants respectively. In the fifth game against Rajasthan Royals, Mohammed Siraj took one wicket for 35 runs and RCB lost that game too.
In the last game against Mumbai Indians, RCB could not defend 196 runs as the five-time champions chased down the total in 16 overs. Mohammed Siraj failed to make an impact in that game and was wicketless for 37 runs in three overs.
And with his form showing little signs of improvement in the last few matches, RCB decided to drop him from the playing XI for the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Monday (April 15). While RCB’s decision is not very surprising, it has raised eyebrows as not many expected such an important decision from the team.
These are some of the reactions to the elimination of Mohammed Siraj:
They dropped Siraj😭
He is supposed to lead our pace attack with Bumrah in 2 months 😭😭🙏
– Irroh (@irroh45) April 15, 2024
Siraj fell, RCB finally took a bold decision 😭😭 I used to pray for moments like this
– A. (@rcb_itcell) April 15, 2024
Mohammad Siraj will be one of our pacers in the T20 World Cup and today he fell.
– RATNISH (@LoyalSachinFan) April 15, 2024
First let’s go bowling.
Siraj and Maxwell are missing tonight. Brave decision by the captain and management.
– leisha (@katyxkohli17) April 15, 2024
Maxwell is still hurt. But they directly benched Siraj😭. I never really thought they would, though. https://t.co/Q36MLuUJKj
– Action Kamen (ESC Namdu era) (@Action_kamen___) April 15, 2024
RCB dropping Siraj will be the best decision in my opinion 😃🫠#RCBvsSRH
– sankar 🇮🇳♥️🇦🇺 (@Aswatsankar) April 15, 2024
RCB has dropped Mohammed Siraj!!!
A good decision!!!!#RCBvsSRH#RCBvsSRH pic.twitter.com/905NLqLCaK
– Ꮪᴀʀᴠᴀɴ 🇮🇳🍁 (@_marvaaadi) April 15, 2024
Why Siraj is out of the team This is totally unexpected.
Why @RCBTweets? #RCBvSRH / #Siraj / #RCB
– Aditya Verma 🇮🇳 (@the_aditya77) April 15, 2024
High impact! Faf du Plessis has dropped Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj tonight 💔💔#IPL2024 #tapmad #HojaoADFree pic.twitter.com/v6akx2x0iz
– Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) April 15, 2024