Sachin Tendulkar criticizes this Bangalore player

Former Indian batter and a legend of the game, Sachin Tendulkar has criticized Mohammed Siraj stating that the bowler missed a trick during Qualifier 2. He felt that Siraj did not use the correct weapons against Jos Buttler in the match.

Notably, Bangalore batted first in the match and posted a moderate total of 157 runs in their 20 Overs. During the chase, Jos Buttler played an outstanding knock scoring 112 runs off 60 deliveries. It was the fourth hundred for Buttler in the ongoing season of the Indian T20 League. On the back of Buttler’s antics, Rajasthan won the match by seven wickets and ousted Bangalore from the tournament extending their wait for the maiden Indian T20 League title by one more year.

While defending a moderate total of 157 runs, Bangalore was in need of early wickets to establish their stronghold in the match. But Rajasthan set the tone of the chase in the very first over of their innings as Yashashvi Jaiswal slammed Mohammed Siraj for 16 runs in the over. Siraj ended up conceding 31 runs off his first two overs, thus shifting the momentum completely in favor of Rajasthan.

The ‘God of Cricket’ has spoken up about Siraj’s disappointing show in the match. Sachin believes that the bowler conceding so many runs at the beginning of the chase was the turning point of the game.

‘I believe Siraj dropped a technique against Buttler. He didn’t bowl an outswinger. He had been bowling angled seam in-cutters and cross-seamed deliveries. He could’ve used a standard outswinger,”- said Tendulkar.

Notable, Siraj was one of the players Bangalore retained ahead of the season. It might have been a reward for his development as a cricketer in the international arena in the last season. But Siraj failed to repay the faith the franchise showed in him. In the 15^th edition of the tournament, Siraj just picked up nine wickets from 15 matches at an average of 57.11 and conceded runs at a rate of 10.08 runs per over.

Speaking of Sachin Tendulkar talking about Qualifier 2, he also credited Yashasvi Jaiswal for the way he too on Siraj at the very beginning. He feels that Jaiswal’s onslaught at the beginning released the pressure on his partner Jos Buttler.

“The way Yashasvu 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,”- Sachin said.

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

Tendulkar also heaped praises on Jos Buttle and stated that it is a treat to watch the English batter when he is in full flow.

“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. Brilliant bat swing and footwork. He also built a good partnership with Sanju when Rajasthan needed it,”- Tendulkar concluded.