Mohammed Siraj: Standing tall against the adversaries

The key to staying happy is something that we all unquestionably desire. But life, as we know, does not always feed us with a spoon. It hurls challenges at us, just to know how an individual is equipped to deal with such hurdles. We all have witnessed obstacles that often deteriorate our state of mind. It is up to an individual to decide how he/she is going to recognize them. Life is akin to a novel. We are all the authors of our story. We get to wake up in the morning to decide how the words will be inscribed in the novel. With every chapter, there comes a fair share of learnings. 

Mohammed Siraj, who has encountered several hardships in life, never self-sabotaged and was strong enough to stand tall against the towering adversaries. On Wednesday, the pacer etched his name in the T20 folklore by capping off the K(night) with a tormenting three-wicket haul. The statisticians and cricket analysts were on their toes every time as records continued to tumble down, courtesy a 'magical spell' by the man himself. 

The universe contains innumerable illustrations of people who have thrown down the gauntlet now to combat the setbacks. The hours of hard work would have borne fruit on Wednesday. But Mohammed Siraj had already pictured this moment six months earlier. "I've always had a lot of support from the RCB setup. All I wanted to do this year was give a magical performance. I wanted to do something different this year. Whenever I used to think about my performance in IPL 2020 (before the tournament), I had made up my mind that I will deliver a performance to remember," Mohammed Siraj was quoted as saying at the post-match press conference. 

The Hyderabad pacer unleashed a spell of sweltering pace which left the KKR batting line-up in shambles. It was heartening to see him running in full throttle, keeping a vice-like grip on the batsmen throughout his four-over spell. 

Dale Steyn, who has orchestrated such spells on many occasions, was all praise for Mohammed Siraj. "I thought Siraj to comeback from his last game against Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah when he went for a couple of runs and perform like this shows the character that he is and what kind of class player he is. Well done to him and I think everyone struck it together nicely tonight. One of those nights where things go your way," 

Records that tumbled 

100 - AB de Villiers on Wednesday completed 100 catches in IPL. He now has 85 catches as a fielder and 15 as a wicketkeeper. 

84-8 - Kolkata Knight Riders recorded their lowest score against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

4 - A total of four maiden overs were bowled by the RCB bowlers -  first in the history of the Indian Premier League. 

2 - Mohammed Siraj became the first bowler to bowl two maiden overs in an IPL game.