Champions Trophy Snub Is Not The End Of The Road For Mohammed Siraj

Bhargav Dixit

Mohammed Siraj celebrates a wicket. [Source: @cricketontnt/X]Mohammed Siraj celebrates a wicket. [Source: @cricketontnt/X]

One of the five changes made to India’s ODI squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj’s exclusion is the biggest one without an iota of doubt. Since becoming a regular for India across formats, this is the first time when Siraj has been “dropped” for a showpiece event.

Known to remain steadfast even in daunting situations, Siraj has primarily been left out to accommodate fast bowler Arshdeep Singh in a three-member pace attack. With Hardik Pandya set to appear in ODI colours for the first time since Asia Cup 2023, India didn’t really need a fifth fast bowling option for a tournament being played in Dubai.

Mohammed Siraj Dropped

In spite of murmurs around his international future, Rohit Sharma was earmarked to lead India days before the announcement of a 15-member squad. In what is going to be his fourth white-ball ICC event as a captain, Sharma clearly communicated the rationale behind Siraj’s exclusion.

“Obviously, with [Jasprit] Bumrah missing, or not sure, we wanted Arshdeep [Singh] to come and play that role of bowling at the back end. [Mohammed] Shami, we saw what he did with the new ball [during ICC Cricket World Cup 2023] and that is where we feel Siraj's effectiveness comes down if he is not taking the new ball. With Arshdeep and [Mohammed] Shami in the squad, we had no option but to select guys who can fulfill all three facets of bowling: bowling at the start, in the middle, and at the death.," Sharma told the reports after the squad announcement.

Bumrah, who hasn’t played an ODI since ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, is an injury concern at the moment. Although India have named uncapped pacer Harshit Rana for a three-match ODI series against England, they don’t have the cushion to pick a 16th player for a multi-nation competition.

Rest Could Do Wonders For Mohammed Siraj

Anyone who has seen Siraj bowl in the last few years has got to be convinced regarding the hell lot of qualities which he brings to the table. The same person, however, might also agree with the fact that he needed a break.

There’s no denying that the 30-year-old player bowled a few outstanding spells during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 down under. That said, there’s also no denying that he also looked exhausted in some of his spells.

In international matches played in the last two years, Siraj’s 661.1 overs are the third-highest behind Mitchell Starc (730.1) and Pat Cummins (745.2). While no other Indian pacer bowled over 700 overs in the last three years, Siraj bowled 900.2 across the three formats at the highest level. The fact that Siraj hasn’t injured himself in spite of representing India across all the three formats in the last one year is his biggest victory.

Been on the road for a long time, Siraj deserved a rest. Had it not been for the Champions Trophy, it wouldn’t have come due to the following Indian Premier League and India’s tour of England. With India scheduled to play five Test matches of a new ICC World Test Championship cycle in England, having a fully-fit and rejuvenated Siraj (especially amid the uncertainty around Mohammed Shami’s Test future) for a Test series is highly likely to reap more rewards than him playing the Champions Trophy. While the “rest” has come due to some other reason, it has it in it to do wonders for him.