Mohammad Siraj has been a loyal servant of Royal Challengers Bengaluru since 2018. Though he did have some good years for the franchise he also had some forgettable years with the ball. However, when the Bengaluru-based franchise decided not to retain him for the 2025 season it did come as a bit of surprise.
Though Siraj would acknowledge that it was an emotional moment to leave RCB he would also reveal that it was Kohli who retained him and played a huge part in his career.
“To be honest, Virat Kohli has a huge hand in my career. He backed me in my bad times – 2018 and 2019 – he supported me, he even retained me, and after that, my performance and graph went up. He has been very supportive. It has been very emotional for me to leave RCB. Let’s see what happens when I come against RCB. The match is on April 2,” Siraj said as quoted by ANI.
Siraj has picked up 83 wickets across 87 matches for RCB with a best of 4/21.
Siraj was instead snapped up by Gujarat Titans for Rs 12.25 crore on Day 1 of the auction process on Sunday, the same day India won the first Test against Australia in Perth.
Siraj also said his training is going very well at Titans. “My training is going very well with all the pacers in my team, and our bowling unit knows how to plan and execute. I am feeling very pleasant training with them all, teammates, and especially being here in Gujarat Titans,” he said.
Gujarat Titans will kick off their campaign against Punjab Kings starting on Tuesday at Ahmedabad with Shubman Gill leading the side.