'I Was Not Able To Digest It, But...': Mohammed Siraj Opens Up On Being Dropped From Indian Cricket Team

Mohammed Siraj has been in blistering form in the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League as he played a starring role in Gujarat Titans’ seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad by picking up his tournament-best figures of 4/17 at his home ground in the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.

The pacer was elated by his performances and mentioned during the post-match presentation ceremony how the presence of his family in the stands helped push him to put up a blistering performance with the ball.

“When you come to your home ground, it’s a special feeling. My family was there in the crowd, and that lifted me up,” Siraj commented after being conferred with the Player of the Match award.

I have played for seven years for RCB. I have worked hard on my bowling and also on my mindset, it’s working well for me,” he added.

The 31-year-old pacer found himself out of favour since the Border-Gavaskar series defeat on Australian soil and even missed out in India’s Champions Trophy 2025 campaign, which they went on to win. But despite the setback, he remained intent on working on his game and is delighted to see the work paying out in such results.

“At one time, I was not able to digest it, but I kept my spirits up and worked on my fitness and game. Whatever mistakes I was making, I worked on those and I’m enjoying my bowling,” he commented.

He did admit that he had doubts about his abilities after being dropped from the national side, but he was able to push himself through the setback.

“As a professional, when you are consistently with the Indian team, a doubt grows in your mind, but I cheered myself up and was looking forward to the IPL,” he said.

Coming to his performance with the ball, it was as clinical as it could get. He began on a flyer as he dismissed Travis Head in the first over and also went on to dismiss Abhishek Sharma in the powerplay itself. But it was his abilities with the older ball which took the spotlight. An aspect which was lacking before, and something that the Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, had even pointed out ahead of their Champions Trophy campaign.

With just one over remaining and bowling in the 19th over of the innings, Siraj showcased some fine reverse-swing abilities, which resulted in him taking two more wickets to help restrict SRH to a total that the Titans went on to chase comfortably.