Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra opens up on the omission of Mohammed Siraj from the India squad for Champions Trophy 2025. Following the announcement of the India squad, the exclusion of Indian pacer Mohammed Shami raised eyebrows of many.
Notably, team India has included only three pacers in their bowling lineup – Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. With many rumours revolving around Siraj’s exclusion from the Indian squad, captain Rohit Sharma reveals the reason behind his exclusion.
Now, Aakash Chopra came forward and spoke out about Siraj’s omission from the CT 2025 squad 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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