“If Virat Kohli pushes for his selection, he might play” - Virender Sehwag on chances of Mohammed Siraj replacing Siddarth Kaul for IPL 2022 Eliminator

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag reckons that the only way Mohammed Siraj can come into the playing XI ahead of Siddarth Kaul for Wednesday’s IPL 2022 eliminator match is if Virat Kohli backs him to do a better job.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the IPL 2022 Eliminator at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Bangalore dropped Siraj for the team’s last league match against the Gujarat Titans (GT). He was replaced by Kaul, who conceded 43 runs in his four overs without picking up a wicket.

Siraj has been a key component of the RCB contingent over the last few years and was one of their retained players ahead of the IPL 2022 auction. However, he has had a poor campaign so far, forcing the think tank to drop him against Gujarat.

Although Kaul failed to impress against GT, Sehwag believes that RCB will stick to the winning combination unless Kohli has a different take on the matter. Speaking on Cricbuzz, he elaborated:

“I think that if Virat Kohli feels Mohammed Siraj is the better option and if he pushes for his selection, he might play. Kohli’s opinion has a lot of weightate. In such a scenario, we might see him playing the match. Otherwise I don’t think Faf du Plessis and Sanjay Bangar would be thinking of bringing in Siraj for Kaul.”

Siraj, 28, has claimed eight wickets in 13 IPL 2022 matches at an average of 55.25 and an economy rate of 9.82.

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“I would stick to Siddarth Kaul over Mohammed Siraj” - Virender Sehwag

Sharing his personal views on the selection conundrum, Sehwag opined that he would go with Kaul ahead of Siraj. Giving his reasons for the same, he explained:

“I would stick to Siddarth Kaul over Mohammed Siraj. I feel he can bowl better in the slog compared to Siraj. He has slower ones and executes the yorker better. Along with Harshal Patel and Josh Hazlewood, he could be an option for RCB at the death. As we saw in Qualifier 1, the last three or four overs are extremely important irrespective of whether you bat first or second. If you have multiple options for those crucial overs, it would definitely help.”

Kaul, 32, has claimed 58 wickets in 55 IPL matches at an average of 29.98 and an economy of 8.63. Before Bangalore, Kaul represented Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad in the T20 league.