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India pacer Mohammed Siraj, who will be seen serving Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, has welcomed BCCI’s decision that revoked the saliva-ban rule. The decision was taken in the captains’ meeting at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on March 20, 2025. All captains agreed to the proposal which led the BCCI to get rid of the rule. The saliva-ban restriction was introduced in IPL 2020 due to the COVID-19. Siraj looked delighted over the BCCI’s decision as he believes the use of saliva will assist bowlers to get reverse swing.
“It sometimes aids reverse swing because scrubbing the ball against the shirt will not help. But using saliva on the ball will help in maintaining and it is important," remarked Siraj in a conversation with PTI. The speedster also exuded excitement to play under his new captain Shubman Gill, who will be continuing as GT captain again despite his unsuccessful IPL 2024 season. Siraj, who was part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) until 2024, said that Gill is the bowler's skipper. "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 and we share a very good personal rapport too," said Siraj while praising Gill.
GT will look to replicate their 2022 performance under Gill
Gujarat Titans will expect their captain Shubman Gill to step up and lead from the front to lift the coveted IPL trophy again after three years. Back in 2024, GT could accumulate only five wins out of their 14 outings and concluded their campaign in the eighth spot on the points tally.
This year, Gill will have to deliver solid results to the team as a skipper. Along with the leadership role, he will also have to do wonders with his bat as an opener. In 2023, Gill became the Orange Cap winner with 890 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 157.80. The 25-year-old’s achievement in the 16th IPL edition got him the top position in the GT side.
