Mohammed Siraj’s seven-year stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) came to an end ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, despite him being one of the franchise’s most reliable performers. The 31-year-old pacer, who picked up 99 wickets in 102 matches for RCB, was not retained and was later bought by the Gujarat Titans for INR 12.25 crore.
Siraj had a decent 2025 campaign, taking 16 wickets in 15 games, including a brilliant four-wicket haul against Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, his release left many RCB fans disappointed, as they believed the Hyderabad pacer had given his best for the team.
Mo Bobat Reveals Deliberations Over Siraj
RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, opened up about the internal discussions regarding Siraj’s future with the team.
“𝑺𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓,” 𝑩𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒃𝒖𝒛𝒛.
He further explained how Indian international bowlers are not easy to find, which made the decision even tougher.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎,” 𝑩𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
RCB’s Focus Shifts to Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bobat clarified that the franchise was keen to acquire Bhuvneshwar Kumar, as his ability to bowl both at the start and at the death made him a valuable asset.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒗𝒊 (𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔), 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑺𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝑩𝒉𝒖𝒗𝒊. 𝑨 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏,” 𝑩𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
Eventually, RCB managed to sign Bhuvneshwar Kumar for INR 10.75 crore and Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood for INR 12.50 crore. Together, the duo had a strong impact—Hazlewood bagged 22 wickets in 12 matches, while Bhuvneshwar contributed 17 wickets in 14 games.
Cameron Green’s Injury Influenced Decisions
Bobat also touched upon the case of Cameron Green, stating that his injury concerns prevented RCB from retaining him.
“𝑯𝒂𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒕, 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏,” 𝑩𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒅.
With a refreshed pace unit and a mix of experience and skill, RCB hopes their bold moves at the auction will strengthen their title aspirations in IPL 2025.
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