IPL 2025: Gujarat Titans pacer Mohammed Siraj backs lifting of saliva ban: 'It will help reverse swing'

Bengaluru: India pacer Mohammed Siraj on Thursday wholeheartedly welcomed the BCCI’s decision to lift the saliva ban ahead of IPL 2025, saying it will help the bowlers find “reverse swing” even in benign conditions.

The BCCI removed the ban on use of saliva on the cricket ball after a majority of the team captains agreed to its proposal, making it the first major competition to do away with the restriction that was a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s very good for bowlers. It’s excellent news for us bowlers because when the ball is not doing anything, applying saliva on the ball will increase the chances of finding some reverse swing,” Siraj, who has joined Gujarat Titans this season, told PTI.

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“It sometimes aids reverse swing because scrubbing the ball against the shirt will not help (to get reverse swing).

“But using saliva on the ball will help in maintaining (the shine on one side), and it is important,” he added.

Excited to play under Gill 

Siraj, who was released by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of last year’s auction, rated Shubman Gill, his new skipper at GT, as a bowler’s dream.

“It’s a good feeling to join Gujarat ahead of the new season. Yeah, it was a bit emotional for me to leave RCB because Virat bhai had supported me a lot in tough times, but we have a fantastic team here under Gill.

“If you talk about Gill, then he is a bowler’s captain. He never tries to stop you from trying something new or hinder your plans. We have made our Test debut together (vs Australia in 2020) and we share a very good personal rapport too,” he said.

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Gujarat Titans have some top-of-the-shelf bowlers such as Kagiso Rabada, Rashid Khan, Ishant Sharma and Gerald Coetzee in their ranks, and Siraj said it will ease some burden off his shoulders.

“It is actually a great thing because it is such an experienced line-up and will foster some healthy competition, which is good for the team. These bowlers do not require much guidance and they know their plans.

“So in that sense, it’s a blessing to have such bowlers in a competition like IPL because we have all kinds of bowlers, who have ticked all the right areas,” said Siraj.

The 31-year-old will have to fill the big shoes of Mohammed Shami as the veteran pacer has joined Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Siraj said it is a task he is excited about. “Look, Shami bhai has done a lot for India and Gujarat Titans. He has taken a lot of wickets and his ability to generate swing, and that wrist and seam position…they are unmatched.

“But my job is to take wickets for the team. I am confident about it, as I had done that in the past, I have seen Shami bhai taking wickets with the new ball at Motera and I will also try to get some wickets in the Power Play,” he noted.

‘Selection not in my hands’ 

Siraj has missed a lot of cricket since playing the fifth Test against Australia at Sydney in early January.

Since then, the Hyderabad man has missed India’s white ball home series against England and the victorious Champions Trophy campaign.

But he was not overly worried about it.

“Look, selection is not in my hands. I have only a cricket ball in my hands and I wanted to do as much as I can with that. I don’t want to put pressure on myself thinking about selection, as I want to focus on my performance.

“Yeah aș a player, it remains in the back of your mind that there is a tour of England and the Asia Cup but I don’t really seriously think about it, as my focus is on IPL and doing well for Gujarat Titans and helping them win another IPL title,” he said.

However, Siraj said he used the time away from the Indian team to work on his fitness and bowling skills.

“I have been playing for some years now, and usually, we don’t get that much rest. But now that I have got some time off, I have worked on my fitness and bowling skills.

“I have worked really hard with how to bowl with new and old balls, and I wanted to work on my slower balls and yorkers. This time I really used to work on those areas, and let’s how things pan out for me in this IPL,” he added But now, Siraj will get a chance to work with Ashish Nehra, who has achieved a name for himself as an excellent coach, during his stint with GT.

“As a fast bowler, Ashu bhai has done a lot for Indian cricket, he was a genuine match winner for the country. I want to learn some things from him that I feel will improve me as a bowler.

“It’s very important for me to add those new skill sets to my bowling such as bowling stumps to stumps line and bowling at the right length,” Siraj noted.