BENGALURU: It was a glorious return to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for Mohammed Siraj on Wednesday night. The venue had been his IPL ‘home’ for the past seven seasons with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), until the franchise unceremoniously let go of the star pacer at the mega auction last year. Added to that snub was the hurt of being kept out of Team India’s white-ball scheme of things — he was ignored for the Champions Trophy recently — and no wonder Siraj was itching to unleash his trademark ‘Siu’ celebration here at the venue in Gujarat Titans colours.
In the past, the celebration — inspired by his favourite footballer Cristiano Ronaldo — would often drown in the stadium’s din. On Wednesday, after his dismissal of Phil Salt, his chant reverberated around the Chinnaswamy, stunning the crowd into silence as the 31-year-old ripped through the RCB top-order.
