Mohammed Siraj hasn’t been in great form over the past year and rightfully so, he has been released by Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of IPL 2025 auction. Given his poor run in T20Is and T20s recently, RCB would be committing a blunder should they decide to go for the Hyderabad pacer – either by buying him back or by taking the Right to Match (RTM) route. The reason is quite simple and straightforward – Siraj is simply not in his best shape as a T20 bowler.
Why RCB shouldn’t go for Siraj in IPL 2025 auction
RCB are looking to recruit a whole new battery of pacers in the IPL 2025 auction. The team has retained just Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal. While they may be tempted to rope in Mohammed Siraj once again, it may be a foolish decision to do so. In 93 matches, Siraj has managed to take an equal number of wickets. However, he has an history of being inconsistent in the IPL, which makes him more of a liability to a team than an asset.
| Year | Mat | WKTS | Ave | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 93 | 93 | 30.35 | 8.65 |
| 2024 | 14 | 15 | 33.07 | 9.19 |
| 2023 | 14 | 19 | 19.79 | 7.52 |
| 2022 | 15 | 9 | 57.11 | 10.08 |
| 2021 | 15 | 11 | 32.09 | 6.78 |
| 2020 | 9 | 11 | 21.45 | 8.68 |
| 2019 | 9 | 7 | 38.42 | 9.55 |
| 2018 | 11 | 11 | 33.36 | 8.95 |
| 2017 | 6 | 10 | 21.20 | 9.21 |
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Siraj’s best season for RCB came in IPL 2023 when he managed to bag 19 wickets. In IPL 2024, he only took 15 wickets. In total, Siraj has played 73 matches for RCB since he joined the franchise in IPL 2018 and has bagged just 70 wickets. Another reason why RCB should not go for Siraj at the IPL 2025 auction is due to his poor form in the international circuit as well. An econmy rate of 8.65 certainly does not justify Siraj’s inclusion in any T20 side, forget RCB. Siraj is better suited for Tests and ODIs where has has picked 80 and 71 wickets respectively as opposed to the 14 wickets he has taken so far in T20Is.
Despite taking 26 wickets in just 79 overs in 21 innings at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, Siraj does not warrant for a spot in RCB’s XI in IPL 2025. RCB should rather target other paces in the fray than going for Siraj.
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