Playing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the first time after seven years with them was a bit emotional for Gujarat Titans' pacer Mohammed Siraj. But the pacer, after picking 3-19 and helping his team win by eight wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, said he was all fired up after getting the ball in hand. Siraj brought the heat on with his pace going above 140 and attacked stumps while hitting good length areas consistently to pick a superb 3-19 in his four overs. He rattled RCB in the power-play by castling Devdutt Padikkal and Phil Salt, before taking out a rampaging Liam Livingstone in the fag end. “It was emotional because I played for seven years here (for RCB). There was some nervousness and some emotion, but the moment I got the ball in my hand, it was full-on (intensity). That I am here (ready for the contest through my celebration), and I am a Cristiano Ronaldo fan as well.”
“As a bowler, I want to always have belief - that is an important thing. If that is not there, you panic (when you get hit). I have a belief that I can do well, irrespective of wherever I am playing, and that is my mindset,” said Siraj after getting the Player of the Match award.
In the run-up to the competition, Siraj was out of India's white-ball scheme of things and added that he used that time to work on where he was making mistakes. “I was playing matches consistently, so I was not realizing the mistakes I was making. In the break, I focused on my bowling, on my fitness.”
“When I joined GT, I spoke to Ashu bhai (Ashish Nehra), and the ball is coming out nicely now. He asked me to just enjoy myself and do whatever I wanted. I talk to them (Rabada, Ishant, and other bowling partners) and get feedback, which is really helpful,” he added.
Jos Buttler, who made an unbeaten 39-ball 73, said he enjoyed batting, though the fielding and his keeping performance could have been better. “The bowlers were fantastic, the fielding could have been better, myself better, we might have been chasing 30 runs less.”
“I was embarrassed (on his dropped catch), Salty is a dangerous batter, I tried to celebrate in a Herschelle Gibbs style, tried to celebrate way too early. There was a bit of movement early on with the new ball, so credit to our openers for having played out the initial period. The fielding could have been better, but we have our bases covered, some fine bowlers, quality batters, and some dangerous hitters in our squad.”
Shubman Gill, the GT captain, said he was happy with keeping RCB to 169/8, after setting around 190 as a target. “Not 200, but we were targeting around 190. So, 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 picked early wickets, then we are in the game.”
“Intent was good. Three wickets in the powerplay made a difference. You are disappointed, but you need to keep coming back and grab the next opportunity. We batted professionally considering the wicket. It is all about adapting to the situation and playing according to that.”
Rajat Patidar, the RCB captain, lamented the loss of early wickets, hurting his team's chances of winning the match. “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 power-play; 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 batted was positive for us. We're confident about the batting line-up (coming good in the future), they're showing some positive intent, which is very good for us.”