Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra is perplexed with the selectors’ call to leave out Mohammed Siraj from India’s Champions Trophy squad. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India have decided to include Harshit Rana in the squad instead of the Hyderabad pacer. Further, the addition of Varun Chakravarthy increases India’s spin strength to five.
Why not Siraj for Bumrah in Champions Trophy?
Taking to social media platform X, Chopra opined that he though Bumrah‘s absence will force the selectors to pick Siraj. The former has been ruled out of Champions Trophy due to a lower back injury. While Rana has been picked in the squad ahead of Siraj, the latter has been named as a non-travelling reserve.
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It is pertinent to point out that Harshit Rana made his ODI debut recently in the IND vs ENG series. When skipper Rohit Sharma was earlier asked about Siraj’s exclusion when the squad was initially revealed, he had responded saying that the team needed a bowler who could deliver with the new ball. That was the reason cited for naming Arshdeep Singh in the side instead of Siraj. However, Arshdeep is yet to play a game in the ongoing series.
Further, Chopra pointed out that Yashasvi Jaiswal wasn’t even a part of the Champions Trophy squad, noting that the plan to play him ahead of Shreyas Iyer was quickly shelved. Jaiswal, who was handed his ODI debut in the 1st match at Nagpur, was initially scheduled to play the game while Shreyas Iyer was supposed to be benched. However, a last-minute injury to Virat Kohli led to Iyer’s inclusion in the playing XI. Jaiswal has also been named as a non-travelling reserve alongside Siraj for the marquee tournament.
India squad for Champions Trophy
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Non Travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube
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