IPL Play of the Day: Ahmedabad rings with Suii-raj as Powerplay King

Ruturaj Gaikwad’s six-ball knock made Mohammed Siraj look ordinary. Two towering sixes, a sharp boundary and 14 runs flowed freely as the CSK skipper threatened to turn Ahmedabad into his own stage. But cricket, like theatre, often saves its loudest moment for the perfect cue and Siraj delivered it on the seventh ball.
The stumps were shattered, the crowd erupted and there was the now famous Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired ‘Suiii’ celebration as Siraj roared through the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday, May 21. At that moment, there was a moment, a chase and perhaps the collapse of the entire Chennai Super Kings IPL 2026 campaign.GT VS CSK: MAIN | SCORECARD

Already beginning with the first dismissal of the dangerous Sanju Samson, Siraj’s blistering new-ball spell tore through CSK’s top order and became the defining act in Gujarat Titans 89 run landslide victory.

“On the red clay pitch, I always tried to make Sanju drive,” Siraj said after the match with a big smile on his face.

Urvil Patel’s dismissal for a two-ball duck was the knockout blow as CSK saw their powerplay come to a disastrous end (58/4). And suddenly the chase of 230 became a survival mission for CSK who never really recovered from the early collapse.

What made Siraj’s spell even more remarkable was the nature of the surface and the conditions earlier in the evening. Throughout the Gujarat Titans innings, the Chennai bowlers struggled to create any kind of pressure. Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill dominated proceedings with a breathtaking opening stand of 125 runs from just 74 deliveries, dismantling the CSK attack with calculated aggression and elegant stroke play.

At no point during the first innings did the pitch seem difficult for batting. The ball came nicely, the boundaries flowed and Gujarat’s top order dictated terms from the start. Yet Siraj somehow extracted the movement, bounce and uncertainty with the new ball and revealed the difference high-quality fast bowling can make even on batting-friendly surfaces.

“The start was a bit spongy. They started well, a few mistakes in our bowling, we didn’t execute against their openers,” admitted Gaikwad after the defeat.

“There were stages where we could have capitalized and restricted them to 200 but we failed today.

POWERPLAY KING

Siraj and his Suii celebrations go viral (PTI Photo)

Gujarat captain Shubman Gill realized that Siraj was operating in a menacing rhythm, so he used him exclusively during the power play. It turned out to be a tactical masterstroke for GT in this IPL. By the time Siraj completed his spell, CSK’s batting line-up was already torn apart, leaving the middle order with too much work to do.

The numbers highlight how dominant Gujarat fast bowlers have been in the overs during IPL 2026. GT currently has the best bowling record in the overs in the tournament, taking 30 wickets in the phase at an amazing average of 24.16 and a strike rate of 16.8, both the best figures in the league.

The burden of those wickets was largely shared between Siraj and Kagiso Rabada. Rabada has taken 17 wickets in the power bowl this season while Siraj now has 13. The only other bowler in the entire league with more than 10 wickets at this stage is Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has 15.

Siraj explained how the partnership between him and Rabada has become one of Gujarat’s biggest weapons this season.

“I try to build pressure from my end in the power bowler and stay consistent with my areas. If I build pressure, Rabada will take wickets from the other end,” Siraj said.
Ironically, on a night when Rabada proved expensive, Siraj almost single-handedly carried out the attack. His figures of 3/26 from three overs included 10 dot balls, each of which further tightened the screws on CSK’s shell-shocked order.

WORK FOR SUCCESS

But behind the aggression, celebrations and goals lies a quieter story of technical improvement and personal rebuilding. Siraj revealed after the match that much of his recent success has come from the work he has done during his time away from international cricket during the T20 World Cup.

“The ball comes off the hand really well. I worked on myself and my release when I was sitting during the World Cup,” explained Siraj.

“I watched my videos and got my confidence back.

This attention to detail clearly carried over to the terrain. Siraj’s rhythm with the new ball looks sharper than ever this year, allowing him to consistently defy batsmen with movement, pace and relentless accuracy.

“Initially I practice with the new ball to get an idea of my rhythm, then I bowl yorkers for two to three overs,” he added.

It all came together perfectly in Ahmedabad. Preparation, confidence, aggression and execution combined to create a spell that not only destroyed Chennai Super Kings on the night but could turn out to be one of the defining powerplay performances of IPL 2026.

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

22 May 2026 08:13 IST

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