Scrambled seam elevates Siraj from fringes to spearhead

With nine wickets in 15 matches, an economy rate of 10.08, 2022 was a forgettable IPL season for RCB bowler Mohammed Siraj. To his credit, the Bengaluru side's gangly pacer is making up for it with a stellar show in 2023. In rollicking form, he already has 14 wickets in just eight games. 

From a weak link in his side, to be the top wicket-taker in the tournament, it has been a stunning transformation. His attitude, speed and consistency, is all different. Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium is a difficult ground for bowlers, but nine out of Siraj's 14 wickets have come on the flat track at his home turf.

Siraj's red ball credentials were unquestionable, but the last 12 months have seen his rapid development into an ace white-ball operator to become an all-format player.

In a chat with teammate, Dinesh Karthik, for the official IPL website, the RCB bowler said the poor show in 2022 was a realisation to sit down and work on his game. "After last season, I thought now I am a part of the Indian team so I can't be conceding easy runs. I was not able to execute; it was feeling very different. I told myself, 'It can't be like this, if I have to play all three formats. If I have to play in the World Cup, then what do I need to do? I have to be in the present'".

"I kept that in my mind. I have the ball in my hand and it all depends on how well I execute the next ball. I am following it and getting success," said Siraj.

Except in the last game against KKR on Wednesday, Siraj has been lethal with the new ball. Consistently clocking 145-plus, he is testing the top-order with attacking lengths.

The game changer for him in limited overs has been the mastery over the wobble-seam delivery. He says, with control over his outswing as well, he can keep the batters guessing. Speaking after picking a four-wicket haul in the ODI against Sri Lanka in January, he had said: "I had a natural in-swinger but when I lost that, I developed the wobble seam delivery. It took time for me to be effective and for me to gain confidence. I kept bowling that ball in the nets, then in IPL and I felt 'yes, I can bowl the wobble seam ball'. I spoke to Dale Steyn about my outswing, (and) it was leaving the hand so well. I started getting results with both."

An example was seen in their game against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday when he cleaned up the world's top-T20 batter, Jos Buttler, in the very first over of the innings. Siraj hit the fuller length that has been his forte this season, got the ball to nip in and dismantled Buttler's middle stump.

The scrambled seam ball makes him effective with the older ball as well. In Wednesday's game against KKR while his teammates were getting hammered, Siraj held his own. Big-hitting Andre Russell was done in by an inch-perfect Siraj yorker. "I am comfortable with any ball, new or old. The ball is coming out of the hand very well, the rhythm is good. I am getting a lot of wickets with the swing. When it is not swinging, I go back to scrambled seam, it works on any wicket."

Sharing his process in training, he told Karthik how he puts high value on the warm-ups: "I come in the morning and do my routine. I don't take the warm-up lightly. It makes me feel confident. As for my bowling routine... I focus on the release."

Siraj is so hungry for success that his captains are finding it difficult to take him off the attack. Ask India captain Rohit Sharma. In a video that has gone viral, Rohit in a lighter vein expresses his helplessness to stop his main bowler from going overboard during the third ODI against Sri Lanka. In search of his fifth wicket, the pacer ended up bowling 10 out of the total 22 overs of the Lanka innings without any care about the workload ahead of an important Test series (against Australia).

The way the Hyderabad bowler has stepped up, he is a frontrunner to be in the squad for the ODI World Cup in India later this year. With a question mark over Jasprit Bumrah's availability, there might be extra responsibility to shoulder. For now, Siraj said he is enjoying the responsibility of being the spearhead of the RCB attack.