Lucknow Super Giants head coach Justin Langer had only one request for young left-arm spinner M Siddharth after watching him bowl an arm-ball in the nets – Get Virat Kohli out. Siddharth, a shy boy from Tamil Nadu had responded with a nod and “Yes sir!” then. Little did Langer know that Siddarth would keep his promise on the first chance he got to bowl at Kohli in IPL 2024.
In only his second match in IPL, Siddharth dismissed Royal Challengers Bengaluru legend Virat Kohli. This was also the first wicket for the 25-year-old in the tournament as he had gone wicketless on debut against the Punjab Kings.
Siddharth, who dreamt of becoming a fast bowler like Irfan Pathan, had to switch to left-arm spin after he was informed about the lack of pace in his bowling. But the ability to swing the ball remained. He is known for his fast deliveries that swerve in the air. And with experience, he has now added pace variation, making it difficult for the batters to line him up. Even Kohli fell for the trap.
After bowling him a couple of quick ones, Siddharth slowed it down. The lack of pace prompted a mistake from Kohli, who went through his flick shot early and got a leading edge to the point fielder. It was an important wicket for LSG as Kohli was looking good on 22. And in a run chase, it is not often that Kohli gets out after getting his eyes in.
After the match, which LSG won quite comfortably by 28 runs to go to the fourth position in the IPL 2024 points table, the franchise uploaded a video on its social media handles where head coach Langer was seen talking about his first impression of Siddarth.
“Had never spoken to him before… I saw bowl an arm ball. The first thing to come out of my mouth after meeting M Siddharth was ‘Hey Sid! you reckon you can get Virat out for us?’ He goes, ‘Yes sir!’. And what did he do? He gets him out,” Langer said even as loud cheers went up in the LSG change room.
‘Had always dreamt of getting Virat Kohli out’” Siddharth
Siddharth said it was a dream for him to Kohli out. “I had always dreamt of taking his wicket. You can ask anyone… It’s the biggest wicket you can take. I’m really happy,” he said. “I just wanted to keep it simple. I backed my strengths and I knew if I could hit the correct lengths, I could do well for the team.”
Siddharth, born in Jakarta Indonesia, moved to Chennai at a very young age to pursue his dreams in cricket. This is Siddharth’s second innings in the IPL. After a good Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Tamil Nadu in 2019, he was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of IPL 2020. But he was released without getting to play a game. His next destination was Delhi Capitals. He got injured when the second leg of the tournament was being played in the UAE and was once again released from the squad.
He then spent two seasons as a net bowler with the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings before LSG paid a hefty ₹2.4 crore in the auction ahead of the 17th season. He is known to be a lethal option with the new ball and his deceptive arm ball can cause trouble to the best of the batters.
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