One of the largest talking from the Indian squad declaration was that pacer Mohammed Siraj was left out. However, a crucial detail that emerged after India declared both its ODI and Champions Trophy squads was of pacer Mohammed Siraj again when skipper Rohit Sharma said his effectiveness would come down just a little when not handed over the new ball.
Rohit also mentioned that Siraj, who has 71 ODI wickets against his name in 44 games, including picking a remarkable six-fer in the 2023 Asia Cup final, was not locked in for any particular slot in the team, mainly due to question marks still around Jasprit Bumrah’s availability.
That’s purely because we thought over it. We are not sure about Bumrah and whether he is going to play or not. So, we thought of wanting someone who can bowl with the new ball and at the backend. So we picked Arshdeep to bowl at the backend. Shami, we all saw what he can do with the new ball.”
“That is where we feel that Siraj’s effectiveness decreases slightly when not bowling with the new ball. We discussed it at length, as we are only taking three seamers there because we wanted all these all-rounders with us. It’s an unfortunate thing that he has to miss out.”
But we had no option but to get guys who could perform a certain role. I personally feel we have guys who can bowl with the new ball, be effective in the middle and at the back end, and cover all facets of the game. With these three bowlers, we think we can do that,” said Rohit in the press conference in Mumbai after the squad announcement.
