When RCB was silenced by Siraj and Sai

Siraj went with Siuu. The fifth over of the first inning had been an interesting one. He came within a hair’s breadth of having Phil Salt run out by himself. The ball had to be changed when he witnessed it being crushed out of the ground.

The umpires had to persuade the Gujarat Titans players to start playing after they sulked about the new ball since Siraj wasn’t pleased with it. For Siraj in particular, they had good reason to be a little miffed at the ball that had gone out of the ground after it had otherwise performed like magic for the Titans in the PowerPlay. Before that six and the ball change, he had witnessed one skid past Devdutt Padikkal, smacked Rajat Patidar on the pad, and was getting more and more comfortable with his rhythm.

Siraj was a little irritated, but he had his sights set on the ball and hit Salt with a full 144 kph ball that sent the stumps clattering. When he was wearing their colours, the RCB audience had shouted enthusiastically for this very gimmick, but Siuu went Siraj and stopped them. They had good reason to, because of him. As the stats below demonstrate, Siraj had held his own, especially in Powerplays on a pitch that was harsh for bowlers.

Since 2023, Siraj has bowled in the IPL in Overs 1-6.

14 games, 12 wickets at 16.25, SR: 15.5, ER: 6.29 @ Chinnaswamy

17 matches, 7 wickets at 43.28, SR: 30, ER: 8.65, other places

When Siraj was acquired by the Titans for INR 12.25 crore, RCB decided not to use their Right to Match card after being excluded from their retentions. Siraj then acknowledged that he was a touch emotional when he returned to play against the squad he had played for for seven seasons.

He bowled an amazing spell there with the new ball, I thought. His lengths were good, his lines were quite tight, and he frequently endangered the stumps. After the game, head coach Andy Flower grinned broadly and remarked, “So good on him.”

It was only going to be bittersweet. All of RCB’s auction selections were made in an effort to acquire a bowling assault that would be suitable for the circumstances. They were unable to retain two of the top wicket-takers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium because of the manner that the dynamics of earlier auctions had changed. Despite the harm Siraj had caused to his team during the powerplay, Flower was now just able to watch it from the sidelines and wish him luck.

However, RCB was still able to “scrap” their way through the middle overs with the batting depth they had gained until another spell derailed their intentions.

Most coaches would pay a lot of money to have a spinner at Chinnaswamy Stadium spell 4-0-22-2. On the same evening when Rashid Khan produced his second-most costly IPL spell ever, his rookie partner R Sai Kishore carried on his incredible IPL 2025 run. Sai Kishore began bowling after Rajat Patidar, the best spin batter for the RCB, was already out of his way because of the damage the pacers had already caused. However, RCB was only beginning to recover thanks to a 52-run partnership between Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma. After defeating the former in the air, Sai Kishore watched as a regulation catch was placed down. However, the astute left-arm spinner kept refining his lengths and angles, getting one to dart through and another to turn.

Similar to Livingstone before, Jitesh was beaten in the air before Rahul Tewatia caught on this time, so the adjustment from around the wicket to over then paid off right away. Before bowling another tight over at the back end against a furious Livingstone and Tim David, Sai Kishore would go on to defeat Krunal Pandya using a variant of the carrom ball that he released for the first time in the IPL.

One of his teammates from Tamil Nadu and the Titans, Sai Sudharsan, decided to explain the spell’s background. “I believe that Sai Kishore’s period was the most crucial in this match since it was really challenging to get a wicket against the quick bowlers. Therefore, as batters—including myself—we would want to get the most out of the spinners. In my opinion, he was astute enough to bowl at the proper speeds in this wicket and at the proper angles to Tim David and Liam Livingstone. I believe he had a fantastic game because he made excellent use of speed in the angles.

According to most accounts, Tamil Nadu captain Sai Kishore is known for being extremely grounded and having a wide range of interests outside of the field. Sudharsan goes on to say that he is the type of person that gives the game and his trade a lot of thought.

“I can tell how much work he puts in and how well-prepared he is in terms of tactical advantages, and I feel off the pitch. He seems to have a slight advantage over other bowlers, in my opinion, because he knows the game, the circumstances, and how to exploit his speeds and angles. Therefore, I would think that is one of the best strengths. And I believe that’s the reason he’s bowling the way he does.

Together, they scored the Titans’ most difficult goals of the evening, but the comparatively measured Sai was not going to have a Siuu.