The former Chennai Super Kings batsman Ambati Rayudu broke down Mohammed Siraj’s struggling performance against Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad and feels the seasoned pacer needs to get back to his natural bowling abilities. Siraj, who had gone to Gujarat Titans for the first time since 2018 after Royal Challengers Bengaluru decided against retaining him, was acquired by the Titans for Rs 12.25 crore in the last year’s mega auction.

The mood in the stadium was altered when Siraj was given the new ball for Gujarat during the first innings. But things were not going according to his plan in his debut for the Titans. He was exposed to young batter Priyansh Arya in the first over, where Siraj was struck by two consecutive fours. Things got worse as the game went on, with Siraj finding it difficult to get into his rhythm. He was off target with his line and lengths, not posing any threat to the Punjab batters and remaining wicketless at a hefty expense.

Having finished his four-over phase, Siraj was the costliest bowler for the Titans, giving away 54 runs with an economy of 13.50. Rayudu, while assessing the cause of Siraj’s struggle, stressed that the pacer needs to regain his normal inswing bowling and throw in a few outswing balls every now and then.

“Siraj is an inswing bowler mainly. Today, he bowled one inswing ball seam-up, but the others were all outswingers, which he’s been trying of late. I feel he needs to return to his natural inswing and throw in an odd outswinger,” Rayudu explained on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 TimeOut.

Siraj’s bad performance helped Punjab Kings to score a huge total of 243/5, 11 runs higher than the Titans’ total.