Siraj on song again after rediscovering rhythm

There were two parts to Royal Challengers Bengaluru's problems in the first quarter of IPL 2024 and Faf du Plessis was brutally blunt in laying down both those cards on the table following a defeat at the Wankhede Stadium. The RCB captain said his team wasn't scoring enough runs to offset its bowling impotency, especially in the PowerPlay.

When the team returned for a home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad after that chastening trip to Mumbai, Mohammed Siraj was rested. The timing of the break in the middle of a relentless schedule proved to be opportune for the World Cup-bound fast-bowling spearhead. Not only was he spared the ignominy of 'the 287', by sitting out one match, he was effectively granted a 10-day break from competitive action, a hard to get luxury for an India international in the IPL.

"It's tough, but it's tough for everyone. Everyone travels a lot [in the IPL]," RCB bowling coach Adam Griffith said of the gruelling tournament schedule. "It's just about monitoring and understanding when the right time to bowl is. Because you still have to bowl, still have to practice and still have to get better. But also you need to be fresh, be ready to go and perform. I think Siraj has found a really good balance right now. He knows his body really well , he knows what he needs to do to prepare. Every now and then we might need to give him a little bit of a push in that direction but he's really good and I've been with him for five or so years, so I can tell when he's going well and I can tell when he needs a rest. We're pretty good at monitoring him.

"He is like any other player when they are fatigued. It's really important to give him that break. That's just as important as the training component. Sometimes even more important. So he's a rhythm bowler, his run-up is so important to what he does. So we want him fresh and running in hard but finding his optimal speed for his run-up to make sure he's going really well."

There were glimpses of the returning spark in Kolkata when he executed a well-thought out full length tactic against Sunil Narine. More progress followed in Hyderabad, where Siraj went for just 20 runs in his four overs. In Ahmedabad, he unleashed a near-perfect yorker to castle a marauding Shahrukh Khan. RCB still needed Siraj, the PowerPlay exponent. Before Saturday night's return fixture against Gujarat Titans, Siraj had taken just two wickets for 171 runs from 17 PowerPlay overs at an economy of 10.05, a far cry from his 10 wickets at an extraordinary 5.93 ER last season.

As it turned out, Siraj was close to missing another home game, feeling the after effects of an illness on the morning of the game. But he decided to plough on and the Chinnaswamy Stadium gave him a hospitable welcome for him after a 20-day gap. Rains on the eve of the game appeared to have spruced some life back onto the pitch and the ball zipped off the surface and also moved laterally. Siraj was excellent in dragging his length back, something Mike Hesson revealed in a