It was no surprise to see plenty of pre-match embraces involving Mohammed Siraj. Having played 7 seasons for the franchise, Siraj is finding his feet at a new home, but – as he had mentioned in a 310-word emotional Instagram message – “RCB will always have a piece of my heart.” On Wednesday, though, he offered a reminder to his old franchise of what he brings to the table. Siraj, when he was at his best for RCB, was a menace in the powerplay and he should have had a wicket in the first over. Buttler, who had a match of two contrasting halves, put down an absolute sitter to give Phil Salt a reprieve. But Siraj wouldn’t be denied, as he ruined the homecoming for Devdutt Padikkal, angling one across the left-hander and disturbing the stumps. If you thought there might be a non-celebration, like we see in football when players score against former sides, it wasn’t. Siraj brought out the familiar CR7 celebration and could repeat it soon after. After Salt smashed a 105m six, he brought out the cross-seam delivery that sent the offstump flying. Coming back for his final over later, he got rid of RCB’s top scorer of the night, as he had Liam Livingstone caught behind. Player of the match award was a pretty impressive return on an emotional night.
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Sai Kishore in action. (Agencies)Sai Kishore’s fine start
It’s a strange old IPL story that R Sai Kishore has played just 13 matches across three seasons. Followers of Indian domestic cricket would vouch for his abilities, considered as one of the best spinners in the country, but it hasn’t translated to success in the IPL. Until this year. He has made a fine start to the 2025 edition and looks to have finally nailed down a spot in the starting XI for Gujarat Titans. He started the season with a 3/30 against Punjab Kings, conceding 7.50 runs-per-over on a night 475 runs were scored, the only bowler across both teams to go under 9. On Wednesday in Bengaluru, he was once again impressive during a spell of 2/22, going at 5.50, and picking up wickets of Jitesh Sharma and Krunal Pandya. Both the wicket deliveries were demonstrations of how astute he is. For Jitesh, after being hit for a four over extra cover in his previous over, Sai took his time to deliberate what he wanted to do, took a late call to go over the wicket, and the change of angle worked immediately. He flighted one outside off and the revs on the ball saw him get some late turn, and it was outside Jiteshs’s hitting arc.
For Krunal, Sai brought out the carrom ball that he later revealed he had been working on for a few years before finally bringing it out in a match. The ball dipped and drifted, straightened after pitching and completely deceived the left-handed batter, the leading edge going straight back to the bowler.
In a post-match video chat, his teammate Prasidh Krishna describes Sai as the team’s heartbeat. And he is relishing that consistency in opportunities now. “Felt really good to get a chance,” he said in another interview. “I have worked hard to be at this level. I really feel that I am one of the best bowlers in the league. I just have to play more games and establish that further.”
Buttler makes up for mistakes
“Pretty embarrassed,” Buttler said in his post-match chat about that Salt dropped catch, and referenced that infamous Herschelle Gibbs mistake in the 1999 World Cup. “I barely got a glove on it; the ball hit me in the chest, but due to that embarrassment, I was pretty determined to try and score some runs.” Later in the innings, he missed a stumping chance off Livingstone as well, who went on to score a half century. Buttler, however, made amends later in the night with a typically calculated run-chase. There has been some debate around his batting position, but GT have preferred to have the right-left combo at the top with Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan. What that does for GT is having the cushion of an expert chaser at No.3 in Buttler, given he has multiple gears in his batting. He started off with a fair amount of caution, but took off against Rasikh Dar, sensing the chance to put the substitute under pressure. He played an outrageous scoop against Josh Hazlewood with the finish line in sight and ended up with a strike rate of 187 and remained unbeaten, on a night that didn’t start well.
