Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj has shared his feelings after leaving Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of the 2025 season. He joined Gujarat Titans for a price of INR 12.25 crore in the mega auction.
Siraj revealed that Virat kohli has supported him a lot since his first season. Making his IPL debut in 2017 for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after being bought for INR 2.6 crore and was further bought by RCB for the 2018 season for INR 2.20 crore.
The 31 year old went on to play seven seasons for RCB and become favourite bowler for the franchise under the leadership of Virat Kohli.
However, he released by the franchise ahead of the mega auction for 2025 season and they also didn’t use the Right to Match (RTM card) to retain him during the bidding event.
Siraj opened up about his move to Gujarat Titans and said that it was emotional for him to leave RCB after receiving massive support from Virat Kohli during his tenure.
“It’s a good feeling to join Gujarat ahead of the new season. Yeah, it was a bit emotional for me to leave RCB because Virat bhai had supported me a lot in tough times, but we have a fantastic team here under Gill,” said Mohammed Siraj.
Siraj also welcomed the move of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to remove Saliva ban to shine the ball during the IPL 2025. The ban was imposed ahead of the 2020 season of the tournament in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s very good for bowlers. It’s excellent news for us bowlers because when the ball is not doing anything, applying saliva on the ball will increase the chances of finding some reverse swing.”
“It sometimes aids reverse swing because scrubbing the ball against the shirt will not help (to get reverse swing). But using saliva on the ball will help in maintaining (the shine on one side), and it is important,” he added.
Gujarat Titans will begin their campaign in the IPL 2025 on March 25 against Punjab Kings at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
