Mohammed Siraj's exit from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru came as a huge surprise, and the franchise has now opened up on the decision. Siraj had been a part of the franchise for 7 straight years until he was released before the 2025 mega auctions.

RCB capitalised on the IPL 2025 mega auction and built a fresh core of fast bowlers with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and Yash Dayal, which eventually worked as RCB went on to win their first title in 18 years.

RCB’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat, recently revealed why the team decided to part ways with Siraj, saying that the team wanted to have Bhuvneshwar, but that would have been difficult in the presence of Siraj.

"Siraj is probably the player that we spent the longest deliberating over," Bobat admitted.

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"Indian international bowlers are not that easy to get. We discussed every eventuality with Siraj, whether to retain him, release him, or use the Right to Match. It was not a straightforward call," he further explained.

RCB ended up buying Hazlewood for Rs 12.50 crore and Bhuvneshwar for Rs 10.75 crore, while Siraj went to the Gujarat Titans for Rs 12.25 crore. "We were keen to try and get Bhuvi for two ends of the innings. Keeping Siraj would have made that difficult. There is never just one reason; several factors come into play," he said.

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Notably, the right-arm pacer Siraj played for RCB for seven years, taking 99 wickets in 102 matches. The 31-year-old had an impressive season with the Gujarat Titans, picking up 16 wickets in 15 matches. On the Other hand, Bhuvneshwar played a crucial role in RCB’s title run with 17 wickets.

Josh Hazlewood was the third leading wicket-taker in the IPL 2025 with 22 wickets in 12 matches at an economy of under nine.

Mo Bobat also revealed why Australian all-rounder Cameron Green was not retained. The Aussie star was part of RCB in IPL 2024 and scored 255 runs in 13 matches. He also picked up 10 wickets at an average of 30.30.

"Had he been fit, we would almost certainly have retained him," he said.