Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj, who was left out of the Indian squad for the upcoming white-ball series against England and the subsequent Champions Trophy 2025, trained hard for domestic cricket to reclaim his place in the national side.
The right-arm quick has started gearing up for Hyderabad’s Ranji Trophy fixture against Vidarbha, slated to be played in Nagpur from January 30 to February 2.
Siraj begun his preparation with an intense training session at the Gymkhana Grounds in Hyderabad on Tuesday (January 21).
“Mohammed Siraj gets into gear for the upcoming #RanjiTrophy match between Hyderabad and Vidarbha! He kicked off his prep with an intense session at Gymkhana grounds TODAY!" the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) said in a post on social media platform X.
The post also featured a video, in which Siraj was seen bowling at full steam in the nets to local batters.
During the squad announcement presser last week, India skipper Rohit Sharma explained why left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh was preferred over Mohammed Siraj in the Champions Trophy squad.
"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.
"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," he added.
India will begin their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign on February 20 against Bangladesh at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
