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Mohammed Siraj in action. (FILE photo)
Being the highest wicket-taker with 23 wickets in the recently concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj broke a number of records during the five Test series. The 31-year-old not only matched Jasprit Bumrah’s tally of 23 wickets in a Test series taken in 2021-2022 series against England but also became the first opposition bowler after Shane Warne in 2005 to take nine wickets or more at The Oval with his nine-wicket haul in the final Test at The Oval. While Siraj, who plays for Gujarat Titans in IPL, who was part of Indian T20 World Cup winning team last year, had last played a T20I for India in July 2024 and missed on a spot in Indian T20I team for Asia Cup, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh believes the Indian team management missed a trick and the team could miss the ‘X-factor’ which Siraj brings to the team.
“I feel that (Mohammed) Siraj’s name should have been included as well. Siraj bowled very well in the recent series. Yes, he did a lot of bowling in England, but he also got adequate rest. So he could have been included. If he had been taken, the team would have looked even stronger. The bowling unit would have seemed stronger. I feel that the “X-factor” that Siraj brings might be somewhat missed,” Harbhajan Singh said on his Youtube channel.
The final 15 member squad announced yesterday by BCCI also saw the likes of Shreyas Iyer not making the cut. Iyer, who had scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07 including six half-centuries in IPL this year, had led Punjab Kings to this year’s final. Iyer, who earlier had made a return to the Indian ODI side in the Champions Trophy, had last played for India in T20I format in 2023 during the India Australia T20I series. Singh believes the Indian team management could have made a spot for Iyer considering his fine T20 recent form. “I had hoped he (Shreyas Iyer) would get a place in the team. He scored a lot of runs, played in the IPL final, and was in very good form. I thought his name could have been there. As for whose spot he would take, you have to see whose place it would have been. When someone has to be included or left out, a spot is made. But I did not see Shreyas Iyer’s name there, which surprised me a little,” Singh said.
Earlier, former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin too had put a case for inclusion of Iyer and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Indian team for Asia Cup and criticised the move. “I’ll say if I am (Yashasvi) Jaiswal or Shreyas (Iyer), now my chance is gone, so from the next time if a risk has to be taken, I won’t. I’ll play for myself because I need to secure my place. It’s unfortunate you’ll have to play for that in T20s,” Ashwin said on his Youtube channel Ash ki Baat.
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