BCCI has announced the Indian Cricket Team squad for the T20 and ODI series against Sri Lanka which is scheduled to begin in January. Rohit Sharma has been named captain of India’s 15-member squad for the ODI series while Hardik Pandya will lead the T20 team against Sri Lanka. Mohammad Siraj get a place in Indian ODI squad but failed to get a place in Indian Squad for T20Is against Sri Lanka. Fans are quite upset with his omission and want to know the reason as to Why Mohammed Siraj is not selected in India’s T20 Squad against Sri Lanka?
India squad for T20 and ODI series against Sri Lanka
#TeamIndia squad for three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.#INDvSL @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/XlilZYQWX2
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 27, 2022
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2022
Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Standby players – Mohd. Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.
Why Mohammed Siraj is not selected in India’s T20 World Cup 2022 Squad?
Siraj failed to get a place in the Indian squad for upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia because there are already better options available in pace department. The selectors have picked four fast bowlers in the 15-member squad. Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are those four pacers. Mohammad Shami and Deepak Chahar are ahead of Siraj to get a place in case of any injury to those four players. Siraj has failed to get a regular spot in India’s T20 playing 11.
The World Cup of shortest format of the game is scheduled to take place in next month in UAE. 18 players have been selected by the selection committee chaired by Chief Selector Chetan Sharma. Apart from the 15 main players, three were selected as reserves. As expected, several notable names were missing from the Indian squad. Regular starters of Indian team like Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendra Chahal failed to get a place in the squad for T20 World Cup. R. Ashwin and Axar Patel are the surprise entry in the list. Apart from the omission of some big names, RCB pacer Mohammed Siraj could not find a place in the 15-member squad. It was speculated by fans and cricket pundits that due to his stupendous rise in cricket, he would be an automatic choice for India during the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup. However, it didn’t went as expected. His fans are left disappointed after Siraj was not even selected in the stand by list. See why Mohammed Siraj is not selected in India’s T20 World Cup Squad.
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Mohammed Siraj had a wonderful Test series against England. He started in all four Tests and was the sidekick of Jasprit Bumrah. He picked up 14 wickets and helped India to win 2 test matches.
India T20 World Cup 2021 Squad
Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami
Standby players – Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.
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Why Mohammed Siraj is not selected in India’s T20 World Cup Squad?
The reason behind Siraj’s non-selection in India’s T20 World Cup 2021 Squad is the spin friendly wicket of UAE. The selectors have decided to go with spinners as their main strength. The selectors picked a squad which is filled with five spinners for the marquee event. Only three pace bowlers made it to the side – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The improvement in Siraj’s performance came a little late and it was also very difficult for him to replace to any of the above veterans of the game.
Indian selectors have chosen to go with experienced and senior players rather than taking risk with youngsters in the pace department. The 3 pacers in the squad are Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and they all are much more experienced than Mohammed Siraj in all aspects of the game.
There is no doubt that Mohammed Siraj has been the India’s go-to option in Test cricket, but the case is different when it comes to T20s. The RCB pacer has not gained much experience in the shortest format at International level. Siraj has featured in just 3 T20 Internationals for Indian cricket team and has picked up 3 wickets in those appearances.
Reasons behind Mohammed Siraj’s omission from the T20 Squad will be cleared by the Chetan Sharma’s explanation:
“If the wickets are such that you can only play two pacers in the XI, there is no point then to the bench (the extra fast bowlers). Instead, you have utility players who will come in handy at some point in the match and that is why you have spinners and all-rounders.
“If you have seen the recent matches, Hardik Pandya is absolutely fit. He is going to bowl his quota of overs, there’s no problem. We were trying to preserve him, we did not want to have a (bad) situation before the World Cup, but he is 100% fit (to bowl).”
After failing to make into the India’s T20 World Cup 2021 Squad, Siraj said the following statement:
“Well, selection is not in our hands. It was certainly a dream to play in the T20 World Cup. But, again, that is not the end of it all. I have many more goals – the biggest being to play a lead role in helping the team to win matches. I will take things as they come for I believe in destiny and be content in whatever opportunities I get even as the pursuit for excellence at the highest level continues.”
Mohammed Siraj will play for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the second phase of IPL 2021. He will play the role of the lead pacer for his team RCB. He had an amazing first half in IPL, wherein he managed to bowl some amazing economical overs against players like Russell. Siraj will try to keep the same form during the second leg for RCB.
