Mohammed Siraj: Started off as a spark, now it's a full flame for RCB

The bowling in the final overs had been a real weakness for Royal Challengers Bangalore, costing them matches on a number of occasions. In their quest to try and resolve this, pacer Mohammed Siraj filled that space perfectly with his prolific bowling in the 13th season. 

Rags to riches

His path to greatness was not easy though. Like many other talents, he got his first opportunity through the Indian Premier League in 2017 when he fetched a bid of INR 2.6 crores from Sunrisers Hyderabad . He went on to pick 10 wickets in his debut season.

Ahead of the next campaign, Royal Challengers Bangalore secured the bowler in the auction and since then he has been a mainstay for the franchise. Being bought for INR 2.6 crore in 2017 to being retained by RCB for INR 7 crore highlights his importance in the team.

Hitting rock-bottom to dream spell

He almost succumbed to the baptism of fire when his career started showing a perilous decline. In 2019, Royal Challengers Bangalore lost their opening six matches, partly because Siraj leaked runs at an economy rate of 9.55. He flunked in 2019 when Kolkata Knight Riders smashed him for 36 runs in 2.2 overs. Things then got even worse as he was taken off bowling duties after firing two consecutive beamers.

However, Royal Challenge Banglore management showed complete faith in the talent during his lean career patch and in 2020, he created history against Kolkata Knight Riders by becoming the first bowler to bowl two maiden overs in IPL history.

Mohammed Siraj in his recent podcast, said, "2019 the performance with RCB was so bad that I thought that's the end of my IPL career. But then I realised that I still have age on my side.

"So I decided to trust myself a bit and thankfully, the RCB management also backed me a lot at that time.

"I almost thought any franchise in their position would have let go of a bowler after that kind of performance, but they backed me, and then 2020 the game against KKR was a life-changing game for me."

Apart from the Indian Premier League, his performances in the Test series in Australia and England brought him much-needed limelight. In the absence of key players in Australia, Siraj received his maiden Test cap and shone with the ball by bagging 13 wickets in three matches to become India's leading wicket-taker in the series. His stellar show continued in England as he pocketed 11 wickets in two matches in their backyard. 

The aggressive bowler RCB needed

Throughout their time in the IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore have learned that despite having the batting talents of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers (retired), their swashbuckling performances may come to nothing if you don't have the bowlers to back it up. For this, they needed an aggressive bowler who fit in the shoes of the legendary bowlers that Royal Challengers Banglore once had. From aggressive South African Dale Steyn, Australian Mitchell Starc to India's Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble, it's now Mohammed Siraj who fills the spot of aggressive death over specialists for the franchise.