Never say die: Sunil Gavaskar praises Mohammed Siraj for heroic spell vs GT
Never say die: Sunil Gavaskar praises Mohammed Siraj for heroic spell vs GT
Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on Mohammed Siraj after the fast bowler produced a match-winning spell for RCB in their IPL 2024 match on Saturday, May 4 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Siraj got the prized wickets of Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill to finish with figures of 4-0-29-2. After the speedster removed both openers, GT could hardly recover and were bowled out for 147.
Thereafter, the Challengers chased down the target with 38 balls to spare and won the match by 4 wickets. Lauding Siraj, Gavaskar recalled the times when the pacer played in the Test series against Australia back in 2020-21 despite his father passing away.
IPL 2024 Full Coverage | IPL 2024 Points Table and Standings | 2024 IPL Full Schedule
“He realised that playing for India was important. Also, he was not established at the stage. An established player would 100 percent have gone back. When you are not established and you are looking to get your place in the team, you stick around,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
IPL 2024, RCB vs GT: Match Report | Full Scorecard
‘Siraj’s strength is self belief’
Gavaskar also praised Siraj for dismissing Steve Smith in the historic Gabba Test when the Australian batter was batting on 55 in the second innings.
“And look how spectacularly he bowled in that Gabba Test match, getting somebody like a Steve Smith out when he was batting on 55. Dismissing Smith when he has come in to bat is one thing and to get him out when he was set is another. This is the strength of Siraj, the self-belief and never-say-die attitude,” Gavaskar added.
After RCB beat GT, Siraj said that he wasn’t on top of his health as he was sick. However, he motivated himself to get up and take the field. After winning the Player of the Match award, Siraj also helped RCB stay alive in the competition. RCB jumped to seventh in the table with 8 points and a net run rate of -0.049 thanks to wins in 4 out of 11 matches.
Watch Live TV in English
Watch Live TV in Hindi