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 preferred 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.
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.
However, former cricketer Aakash Chopra believes the decision to not pick Siraj is a wrong one, considering the fitness issues of the current attack and the possible conditions in the UAE, where India will play all of their CT fixtures.
“Picking only three seamers. With two having fitness-related concerns and one who’s not an ODI regular. For a tournament in late Feb/Early March at Dubai. I would’ve picked Siraj for a spinner all-rounder," Chopra wrote on X.
Notably, India’s squad feature three spin all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Kuldeep Yadav is the lone specialist tweaker in the squad.
In another post, Aakash Chopra shared the data of highest men’s ODI wicket-takers since 2022. The list had Siraj at the third spot — the best for India — with 71 wickets in 43 matches at an average of 22.97.
“Only two Indians in this list. Only one Indian fast bowler. Most ODI wickets since 01.01.2022. His name is Md. Siraj," the post said.
Only Adam Zampa and Sandeep Lamichhane, who are both spinners, have claimed more scalps than Siraj in this period.
During the squad announcement presser, India skipper Rohit Sharma said Arshdeep has been picked for the variety that he offers with his left-arm pace and control in death overs.
"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.
India will begin their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign on February 20 against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
India squad for Champions Trophy 2025:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja
