Pace bowler Mohammed Siraj on Sunday said his omission from the Indian team made him ready for IPL as his 4-17 helped Gujarat Titans hammer Sunrisers Hyderabad for a third straight win.
Hyderabad-born Siraj kept up his bowling form in the T20 tournament this season with nine wickets in four matches and kept down hosts Hyderabad to 8-152.
Skipper Shubman Gill hit an unbeaten 61 as Gujarat, champions in their debut season in 2022, overhauled the total with 20 balls and seven wickets to spare for their third victory in four matches.
It was Siraj’s second successive match-winning show after he returned 3-19 against his former team Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday.
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Siraj, who was dropped from the ODI Champions Trophy that India won last month, said the break made him work on his bowling.
“At the start (of the break), I could not digest,” Siraj said after being named player of the match.
“But then I explained to myself that I have so many things planned. It (selection for Champions Trophy) was not to be, but I concentrated on my mindset, my fitness. Enjoying my bowling now.”
The 31-year-old Siraj added: “When you are not selected (for India), doubts do creep in, but I wanted to be ready for the IPL.”
Gill praised his champion bowler, saying, “The energy he brings is tremendous. When playing against him, you want him in your team. His energy is infectious.”
Bengaluru released Siraj after last season and the India fast bowler was bought by Gujarat for AU$2.3 million in the November auction.
Hyderabad, who lost the IPL final to Kolkata Knight Riders last year, remain at the bottom of the 10-team table with four successive defeats from five outings.
Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins struck early to dent Gujarat’s chase when he had Jos Buttler out for a duck after fellow quick Mohammed Shami had removed opener Sai Sudharsan.
Gill and number four Washington Sundar, a left-hand batter who smashed 49 off 29 balls, put the chase on track in their stand of 90 after Gujarat slipped to 2-16.
Shami denied Sundar his fifty with Aniket Verma taking a good catch in the deep, a decision that left the batsman and the Gujarat camp disappointed.
Impact substitute Sherfane Rutherford, a West Indian left-hander, kept up the charge with a flurry of boundaries including four in a row off Abhishek’s left-arm spin to ease into the chase.
Rutherford smashed 35 off 16 balls laced with six fours and one six. Gill anchored the chase in his 43-ball knock and hit the winning run.
Siraj remained hero as he removed openers Travis Head, for eight in the first over, and then another left-hander Abhishek Sharma, for 18, to hurt Hyderabad.
Prasidh Krishna took down left-hander Ishan Kishan for 17 before Sai Kishore took charge with his left-arm spin to rattle the opposition middle-order.
Kishore sent back Heinrich Klaasen, for 27, and Nitish Reddy, for 31, as Hyderabad wobbled and Siraj came back with two wickets with the old ball in his final over.
Cummins smashed 22 off nine balls in a late blitz that got his team 17 runs from the 20th over off veteran pace bowler Ishant Sharma, who leaked 53 of his four.
“I don’t think Pat (Cummins has ever panicked in his life and I think I’m pretty similar. But we understand the ramifications of losing four in a row and how difficult it makes the season,” Sunrisers coach Daniel Vettori said after the match.
“It’s tough because obviously you come into the season with high expectations after [finishing as runners-up] last year and then a very good start.
“But we just haven’t been near our best in the last four games. I think that’s all three disciplines. I think the barometer of most teams is how their fielding’s going, and we’ve been pretty poor in the field.
“So those will be the work-ons between now and the Punjab game. And we know that if we can get on a roll, then we’re still a very good team. We’re just not performing the way that we should be.”
