Mohammed Siraj looked set to get a long rope in T20I cricket after being named in the team for the Ireland and England series. The right-arm pacer only played one game in the 2026 T20 World Cup after coming in as Harshit Rana’s replacement. He retained his place in the T20I team before getting replaced by Prasidh Krishna. Aakash Chopra has questioned Siraj’s absence and said that he has been made a one-format player very soon.
“We made him a one-format player very soon. It was prematurely decided that he could not bowl with the older ball and should be dropped. He was out of favor for a long time, but his fate changed, and he was picked for the T20 World Cup, where he picked up three wickets in his first match, and now he is back again in the T20 reckoning,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“There was a period when I genuinely felt that it was not right. You played him in all Tests, where everyone needs workload management, but didn’t think about him. Then, suddenly one day, you said he was no longer part of the ODI team, and then he was removed from T20Is as well; that was not right. He was not in the Champions Trophy team. I thought that was incorrect. His name should have been there,” he added.
Siraj was shockingly ignored for the 2025 Champions Trophy and wasn’t part of the Asia Cup team either. He has been rested for the ongoing ODI series against Afghanistan. The right-arm pacer hadn’t played a T20I since 2024 before making a shock return for the 2026 T20 WC.
Siraj has 76 wickets in 50 ODIs he has played since his debut in 2019. He has 17 wickets in as many T20Is. Siraj remains a regular in Test cricket and he has 140 wickets in 46 matches.
Will Siraj be named in ODI squad for England series?
It will be interesting to see if the selectors name him in the ODI squad after resting him for the T20I fixtures. Jasprit Bumrah could also make his return for the second leg of the England tour. The three India-England ODIs are scheduled to be played on July 14, 16 and 19 in Edgbaston, Cardiff and Lord’s, respectively.
