Flashback to when Mohammed Siraj's brilliance shackled Andre Russell

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be facing Andre Russell in the penultimate over with 43 runs needed? Have you ever wondered what goes on inside the head of a bowler who knows that one small error and he will be condemned with extreme prejudice? Have you ever felt the thrill, the terror, the anticipation, and yet the rising urge to perform in front of a monster and come out unscathed?

There is a man who will be donning the RCB jersey for the fifth season who felt all of these aforementioned emotions. And guess what? He came out not only unscathed but with flying colors, leaving a mountain to climb for the muscle man. We are talking about the one and only, Mohammed Siraj who completed four years at RCB and will be gearing up for the upcoming season.

As he completes four years in the proud bunch of the Royal Challengers, let’s look back at that crucial 19th over that left Andre Russell and the entire world watching stunned at the brilliance of an expressman.

KKR was stationed at 161 for the loss of 7 with Russell unbeaten at 30 from just 13 balls. He already tasted blood in the game and was willing to splay anyone who would come in his way. The only problem for him was that the man at the non-striker’s end was Harbhajan Singh whose firepower dried up with time.

The first ball that Siraj bowled was fuller and was on the fifth stump on the off-side, which forced Russell to stretch himself and the resulting shot rolled down to the sweeper with no runs being scored.

The second ball from Siraj was an absolute peach as he hammered a wide yorker. All Russell could do was drill it straight to the cover fielder with no runs whatsoever.

Siraj knew one thing for sure; the big man will be eyeing the ropes and he simply needed to make him stretch by bowling away from the stumps and his hitting arc. The following delivery was another wide yorker that left the Caribbean all-rounder hesitantly slice it to third-man with no runs taken.

It needed grit and determination to continue that exact line which Siraj was drilling because if he missed the line and length by an inch, it would either be an extra or fall in the swinging trajectory of Russell and the result was obvious.

The fourth ball in the over was exactly in the same spot, a yorker wide outside the off-stump with Russell failing to prise out anything significant. The young man knew that he had got the job done. He wanted to have some fun now as he took turns in tormenting the big man from West Indies.

The fifth ball of the over was a slow bouncer that completely derailed Russell from his mantle as he tipped over, trying to duck. The world was in awe, the opposition dismayed and the Royal Challengers elated beyond imagination.

The final ball of the over was a low full toss that Russell could only direct to the long-on boundary to secure a single. The match was won in that over as Russell couldn’t eke out anything from it. 

More importantly, the Royal Challengers knew that they had found a leader in Siraj who would be a burning beacon in death bowling for years to come.