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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Mohammed Siraj has apologized to teammate Mahipal Lomror for abusing him during the IPL 2023 match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Bengaluru on Sunday.
RCB beat RR by seven runs in the first match of the doubleheader on Sunday. Batting first, Bangalore posted 189/9 on the board courtesy of fine knocks from Glenn Maxwell (77 off 44) and Faf du Plessis (62 off 39). In the chase, RR were restricted to 182/6.
On the last ball of the 19th over, RR batters Dhruv Jurel and Ravichandran Ashwin attempted a tight second run after the former smashed the ball down the ground. Lomror sent in a throw at the non-striker’s end, but it reached Siraj at an awkward angle. The bowler ended up breaking the stumps with his leg, and Ashwin survived despite not reaching the crease.
Siraj was seen having a go at the fielder after the botched run-out attempt. However, in a match review video posted on RCB’s official YouTube channel, the pacer said that he had apologized to Lomror.
“I am so angry man," Siraj said. "Sorry. I have apologized to him twice already. I don’t carry the aggression off the field. It all calms down post the match.”
Sportingly accepting the apology, Lomror replied:
“It’s alright Siraj bhai. Such small things keep happening in such big matches.”
Siraj claimed the massive wicket of RR opener Jos Buttler, cleaning him up for a duck in the first over of Rajasthan’s chase. He ended with figures of 1/39 from his four overs.
“Very happy with the responsibility of leading the attack” - Mohammed Siraj
After RCB’s win over RR, Siraj asserted that he was pleased to play the role of the leader of the bowling attack. Reflecting on his overall performance and his efforts against Rajasthan, he said:
“I accept any challenge. My role is going well, wickets with the new ball and the ball is coming out of the hand nicely. One ball swung in the first over when it swung into [Yashasvi] Jaiswal, and then I concentrated on my scrambled-seam as I trust that.
"There was a bit of reverse and it is not easy to hit sixes off the reverse on a hard length. I'm very happy with the responsibility of leading the attack.”
The RCB pacer is the current Purple Cap holder, with 13 wickets in seven matches at an average of 15.38.
