IPL 2020 | Have been practising a lot with new ball; didn’t expect to bowl to open bowling today, admits Mohammed Siraj

After losing the toss, Virat Kohli opined that he would have also liked to bat first on the used pitch in Abu Dhabi. However, fate had it differently, as Mohammed Siraj’s breathtaking bowling display in the first half of the innings against KKR was the biggest talking point of the day. The right-arm pacer, who breathed fire, picked up the wickets of Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana and Tom Banton in his first two overs, while not conceding any run. 

However, the Hyderabad pacer wasn’t the first-choice new-ball bowler for Virat Kohli, who admitted at the post-match presentation that he wanted to give the new-ball to Washington Sundar. A last-minute change in his decision turned out to be a game-changer for RCB, as Siraj’s opening spell helped them reduce KKR to 84, which they chased down easily. 

After the match, during the post-match presentation, Siraj admitted that he had practised a lot to bowl with the new ball. However, he wasn’t sure that he was going to open the bowling alongside Navdeep Saini. Alongside that, he stated that he executed the plans perfectly during his first spell. 

"First I want to thank Allah for my performance. Then thanks to Virat for giving me the new ball. I have been practising a lot with the new ball. We hadn't planned that I will open but when we went out, Virat bhai said Miyan ready ho jao. [Sir, get ready.]. The ball to Rana was very good. Executed exactly what I had planned," said Siraj in the post-match presentation.