Mohammed Siraj may not feature in the India vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I. The pacer injured his right leg during the practice and was seen getting some treatment. The 30-year-old is an all-format bowler, and in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami’s absence, he’ll be the leader of the bowling pack in Sri Lanka in both T20Is and ODIs. However, this injury could change things.
Who could be Mohammed Siraj’s replacement?
Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav had decided to bring just three pacers for the T20I series. Arshdeep Singh, who’d impressed everyone in the T20 World Cup and had taken the most wickets in the tournament, is a sure starter and is even in the conversation to join the Test side.
The other pacer, Khaleel Ahmed, was part of the recently concluded T20I series in Zimbabwe and found a place over Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan. He wasn’t expected to start, but depending on how severe Siraj’s injury is, he might just feature in the first T20I on July 27. If Siraj is ruled out, one of Mukesh or Avesh could join the team, and we might even see Harshit Rana reach Sri Lanka early and play in both ODIs and T20Is.
India’s T20I squad for Sri Lanka series
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.