Lots of fast bowlers were in action in the IPL 2025 game between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Tuesday night. One of them was a seasoned veteran, an international player, Mohammed Siraj. The other isn't a rookie by any yardstick, but was playing just his 12th IPL game in his third year, and doesn't really have a significant body of work at this level to raise his profile, Vijaykumar Vyshak. On the night, with his team's planning outdoing that of the opposition, Vyshak "changed the game", while Siraj ended with 4-0-54-0.
"It's his first game in this IPL. To pass judgment, you have to wait at least four to five games," Varun Aaron said of Siraj on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut. "Yes, Siraj has been a bit expensive in the beginning, but he can also win you games with the ball. Being under Ashish Nehra [GT head coach] now, this year could be one of the better years for him. He will learn from tonight, but his decision-making towards the end was not the best."
It really wasn't. Bowling the last over of the PBKS innings, Siraj went short and wide, swinging in and full, a yorker on off, short and wide, then a wide down the leg side, inswing on leg, and short and wide again. The three that were sent short and wide of off all went for fours. Two of the other deliveries went fours too, as Shashank Singh singlehandedly took 23 runs from the over. The difference between the two sides in the end was 11 runs.
Aaron and Ambati Rayudu felt it came down to Siraj not trusting what came naturally to him.
Rayudu: "[Siraj] is predominantly an inswing bowler. Today he bowled one ball [that was] seam up and inswing; the rest were all trying to bowl his outswingers, which he [has started doing] recently. But I think he has to get back to his natural ability to bowl that inswing and then maybe try and get one-odd ball to outswing."
Aaron: "We actually did an analysis of this last year on Star Sports [...] he bowled 20% more outswing balls last year and he didn't have a good IPL, compared to the previous year, when he bowled more inswing. I agree Siraj is way better when he is bowling inswing, and the odd outswing, because his outswing isn't like a [Mohammed] Shami outswing, it doesn't leave people late."
Rayudu: "It swings quite early, because he's doing that [indicating how Siraj's wrist doesn't come down in a straight line]; he is not releasing it straight like that [indicating more of a Shami action]."
A part of the IPL from 2017, Siraj had a very good IPL in 2023 (19 wickets with an economy rate of 7.52), but in IPL 2024, he got just 15 wickets from 14 bowling innings and conceded runs at 9.19. This season hasn't started well with his new team either.
Which is the opposite of what happened with Vyshak, for his new team.
'Just get Vyshak out here'
But, with Vyshak, there was some smart planning on the part of the team's think tank that made sure it worked right.
PBKS didn't sub out Priyansh Arya for Vyshak till the 13th over of the GT chase. The ball after Arshdeep Singh removed B Sai Sudharsan, GT subbed out Prasidh Krishna and subbed in Sherfane Rutherford, a left-hand basher. Three balls later, at the end of the over, Vyshak was subbed in for Arya.
"I think Vyshak's entry [was the turning point]," Rayudu said. "He changed the game."
Varun Aaron and Ambati Rayudu discuss Punjab Kings' use of their Impact Sub
In his dressing-room debrief after the game, Ricky Ponting said, "I was sitting there [in the dugout] and it was like, oh, they need 13 an over, they need 14 an over; sent a message out to Shreyas, 'mate, what do you want to do?' And he said straightaway, 'Just get Vyshak out here, he'll nail a couple of overs of yorkers and we'll close the game.' And you [Vyshak] were the one that changed the game. So congratulations."
Curiously, as Rutherford walked to the crease, and Arshdeep went back to the top of his mark, it looked like he was pointing out to his captain, Shreyas Iyer, that Vyshak needed to be brought in. Irrespective of what the sequence of events was, he came in.
Vyshak bowled the 15th (five runs), the 17th (five runs) and the 19th, which was expensive as he went for 18. But the first two overs, at a critical time in the chase, was certainly impactful, as Rutherford and Jos Buttler couldn't really break free.
"They [PBKS] might have been waiting for the GT impact sub, because if it was [Glenn] Phillips, then they could have got on [left-arm spinner Harpreet] Brar. Because, obviously, it would have been much easier for Rutherford to get away with Brar bowling from the other side.
"End of the day, I think Vyshak's role is very much [that of] the death-bowling specialist. If not wide yorkers, his knuckleballs, which are very handy.
"It was brilliant planning by Punjab. They held their nerve. This is when you bring an IPL-winning captain [Iyer] and a coach [Ricky Ponting] together, there is a bit of sense of calm in pressure."