“Siraj missed a trick against Buttler” - Tendulkar explains what RCB pacer could have done differently against RR opener in IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 

Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar reckons Mohammed Siraj missed a trick by not trying the regulation outswinger against Jos Buttler during the IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Friday.

Chasing 158 for victory at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, RR romped home by seven wickets, with Buttler hammering an unbeaten 106 off 60 balls, his fourth hundred of the season. The defeat knocked RCB out of the competition.

For Bangalore to stay in the contest, they needed to get off to a good start with the ball. Instead, Siraj conceded 31 runs in his first two overs. Analysing the match on his YouTube channel, Tendulkar opined that the Bangalore pacer did not utilise all his skills. He explained:

“I think Siraj missed a trick against Buttler. He did not bowl a proper outswinger. He was bowling in-cutters with angled seam and cross-seamed deliveries. He could have tried a regulation outswinger.”

Siraj had a poor IPL 2022 campaign, claiming only nine wickets in 15 games at an average of 57.11 and an economy rate of 10.08. On Friday, he also created an unwanted record of conceding the most sixes (31) in an IPL season.

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“Yashasvi’s explosive start gave Buttler some breathing space” - Sachin Tendulkar

While Buttler went on to crack his fourth ton of the ongoing IPL season, Tendulkar also credited Yashasvi Jaiswal for easing the pressure on his senior partner in the chase.

According to Tendulkar, the left-hander’s early assault on Siraj allowed the English dasher the luxury of taking a few deliveries to get his eye in. The Indian legend explained:

“The way Yashasvi Jaiswal played the first ball made a huge statement, even though it was a dot ball. It was a good delivery from Siraj on a nice length to which Jaiswal played a full-blooded cover drive. He then hit Siraj’s short-pitched deliveries for two sixes and a four."

Tendulkar added:

"Yashasvi’s explosive start gave Buttler some breathing space. The latter was batting on 6 after 7 balls. After that, he targeted Siraj.”

Praising Buttler for yet another impressive knock, Tendulkar said that watching him bat in full flow is a joy. He said:

“When he gets going, it’s a joy to watch. Something happens on every ball. He is unpredictable and a 360-degree player. There was not one area where he did not hit a shot. (He displayed) brilliant bat swing and footwork. He also built a good partnership with Sanju (Samson) when RR needed it.”

Following his heroics against RCB, the aggressive RR opener crossed 800 runs for the season. The Orange Cap holder now has 824 runs from 16 games at an average of 58.86 and a strike rate of 151.47.