Pacer Mohammed Siraj‘s exclusion from India’s Champions Trophy squad has raised a few eyebrows. On Saturday, the BCCI announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI series against England, as well as the mega event. Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Shami are the three front line pacers while youngster Harshit Rana will feature in the first two ODIs against England. Bumrah’s fitness situation is unclear with the BCCI set to provide a clarity on the same in early February.
Former India batter Aakash Chopra was baffled with Siraj’s omission, and labelled Harshit’s inclusion against England as surprising.
“No one knows about Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness. No one knows about Mohammed Shami’s fitness. Maybe he is fit, but no one knows how his form is going to be. Arshdeep has been named in the squad, and there is no place for Mohammed Siraj. He hasn’t done so much wrong that he is not even featured in the squad. I feel for DSP. Siraj, I am feeling for you. Siraj could have been picked. There could have been one lesser spinner. Harshit Rana is also ahead in the ODI queue ahead of Siraj, which is very surprising,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Chopra also spoke on India’s composition in the Champions Trophy, highlighting that the inclusion of just three front line pacers is a clear indication that the Rohit Sharma-led side will line-up with three spinners and two quicks.
“There are just three fast bowlers, and that is big news for me. When you pick three pacers, you will only play 2 fast bowlers. If you wanted to play three seamers, you would have picked four in your squad. It means that you have decided to play three spinners. You have played your hand before anything has even started,” he added.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana (only for two England ODIs).
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