Mohammed Siraj was not included in India's 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 by the selectors on Saturday (January 18).
While senior pacer Mohammad Shami made a return to the ODI squad after recovering from a lengthy injury hiatus, left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh was picked over Siraj.
Jasprit Bumrah will be the leader of the three-man pace attack, provided that he recovers completely from the back injury sustained in the fifth BGT Test against Australia at SCG earlier this month.
Arshdeep has been picked for the variety that he offers with his left-arm pace and control in death overs, said India skipper Rohit Sharma in the squad announcement presser.
"We are not sure about Bumrah, whether he is going to play or not. So, we thought we wanted someone who can bowl with the new ball and at the backend. So we picked Arshdeep to bowl at the backend. Shami, we all saw what he can do with the new ball," Rohit told reporters.
The captain also explained why Arshdeep was preferred over Siraj. "Siraj, his effectiveness comes down when he is not bowling with the new ball. It's an unfortunate thing that he has to miss out. But, we had no option but to get the guys who can perform a certain role. I personally feel we have guys who can bowl with the new ball, bowl in the middle, and bowl at the backend. With these three bowlers, we think we can do that," Rohit added.
Rohit Sharma will open alongside his deputy Shubman Gill in the showpiece tournament. Young left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal is another opening option in the squad.
The squad picked for the Champions Trophy will also face England in three ODIs in early February, with Harshit Rana added as a backup for Bumrah, who might not be fully fit for the first two matches of the series.
Rohit explained the rationale behind Jaiswal and Rana’s selections. "Arshdeep hasn't played a lot of ODIs, but he has been in the white-ball set-up for a long time. I don't think I feel comfortable saying he is not experienced. He has played T20Is and bowled under pressure. Shami is a stalwart in white-ball cricket. Harshit, we needed something different. He has shown he has got the potential. So, we need to back him,” he said.
"But, look at Jaiswal. We picked him based on what he has done in the last 6–8 months. He has not played ODIs, but we picked him because he has shown potential. Sometimes, we need to do that. If we talk about everyone, we can't please everyone. Yes, it's a tough call, but we needed to take it," Rohit remarked.
India squad for the Champions Trophy 2025: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant(wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal
