'Leader Mohammed Siraj Regains Swing, Aggression' As RCB, India Hopes Rise High

The change in Mohammed Siraj's fortunes has played a critical role in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's late surge in this IPL, and the pacer's good run might also have put the Indian thinktank at ease ahead of next month's T20 World Cup. In the latest show of his metamorphosis, Siraj wrecked Gujarat Titans with a two-wicket burst in the Power Play, grabbing the wickets of Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha. Siraj's figures at that stage was a superb 2-0-9-2, and as someone who is marked to share the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah in the ICC showpiece, it's certainly a shot in the arm for the national team as well.

RCB assistant coach Adam Griffith, who has worked with Siraj for the last five years, placed that transformation to him "swinging the ball again." "He's the leader of our group. He's played a lot for India in the last few years and has done really well. It's not just him bowling well. It's his aggression, his body language, him taking the batters on to try and get wickets is such an important part of what we're trying to do.

"Having him up and going, swinging the ball again, bowling with good pace, and being aggressive is so important to us," said Griffith in the post-match press meet here on Saturday after RCB defeated GT by four wickets.

The Royal Challengers bowling unit's performance – a collective economy rate of 10.28 and 45 wickets – was the worst in this season of IPL.

In a way, it was Siraj's responsibility to inspire the rest of the pack as the leader and he did put his hand up.

Perhaps, the nine-day break he was given between April 12 and 20 refreshed his mind and helped him regain his sharpness.

The match he missed in the interim was the one in which Sunrisers Hyderabad racked in an IPL record of 287 for