Mohammed Siraj has been dropped from India’s ODI squad for the upcoming England series and Champions Trophy 2025. The selectors and the team management backed Arshdeep Singh instead, who had a terrific T20 World Cup and picked up 20 wickets in seven matches in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy and is also the leading wicket-taker of the series.
Explaining the reason behind dropping Siraj, captain Rohit Sharma stated that they wanted a pacer who could bowl both with the new ball and in the death. He noted that Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami are good new-ball bowlers and for death overs, they preferred Arshdeep over Siraj. In case Bumrah misses out due to a stress fracture, the team management expects the left-arm seamer to step up with the new ball.
“We are not sure about Bumrah, whether he’s going to play or not. So, we wanted to pick a squad where we have options of both - somebody to bowl with the new ball and at the back end. Obviously, with Bumrah missing, or not sure, we wanted Arshdeep to come and play that role of bowling at the back end. Shami, we saw what he did with the new ball and that is where we feel Siraj’s effectiveness comes down a little bit if he’s not going to take the new ball,” Rohit said in the press conference.
Apart from that, there were doubts if Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer would make it to the 15-member squad. The team management however showed trust in both the cricketers and it will be interesting to see who gets the preference in the playing XI, especially in the presence of KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja among others in the middle order
India also named three all-rounders - Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Kuldeep Yadav has been named as a specialist spinner. On the other hand, only pacers will travel with the squad for the marquee tournament.