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Reflecting on his time in Bengaluru, Mohammed Siraj acknowledged the crucial role Virat Kohli played in shaping his career.
Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj played together for six IPL seasons (Picture credit: BCCI)
Star India pacer Mohammed Siraj has admitted that Virat Kohli backed him wholeheartedly during his low phase in 2018 and 2019 and leaving the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the Gujarat Titans after being picked up at the IPL 2025 mega auction was an emotional situation for him.
Having been a crucial part of Bengaluru’s pace attack for the last six years, Siraj now faces the challenge of adapting to a new team while carrying deep-rooted emotions for his former side and its talisman Kohli.
Reflecting on his time in Bengaluru, Siraj acknowledged the crucial role Kohli played in shaping his career, during his difficult years in the Indian Premier League.
“To be honest, Virat Kohli has a huge hand in my career. He backed me in my bad times, in 2018 and 2019, supported me, he even retained me and after that, my performance and graph went up,” Siraj said while speaking to ANI.Â
“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 added.
The star India pacer’s departure from Bengaluru marks the end of an era for a bowler who became the team’s third-highest wicket-taker.
Across 87 games, Siraj bagged 83 wickets at an average of 31.45, with a best haul of 4/21.
Siraj’s most brilliant season came two years ago when he took 19 wickets in 14 games at an average of 19.74 and an economy rate of 7.5.
Despite a rollercoaster journey with RCB, Siraj is looking ahead with optimism as he trains with Gujarat.
“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,” Siraj said.
Gujarat, a side that has already built a reputation for its well-rounded team, will hope to see Siraj’s pace and accuracy add firepower to their bowling attack.
The team lifted the title in its inaugural season in 2022 under Hardik Pandya’s leadership and reached the final the next year under him as well.