Former Indian chief selector MSK Prasad has questioned the absence of Mohammed Siraj from the Asia Cup squad. Siraj was left out of the 15-man squad as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel picked Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh as the three frontline seamers.
Meanwhile, Siraj recently picked 23 wickets in five Test matches against England at an average of 32.43. Siraj returned with match-winning figures of 9-190 in the fifth Test match at Kennington Oval, London.
Siraj bagged 16 wickets in 15 IPL 2025 matches at an average of 32.93 and an economy rate of 9.24 for the Gujarat Titans.
MSK Prasad told Cricbuzz, “My issue is not just about Iyer, but Mohammed Siraj too. Unless he has been rested as part of workload management, he should have been in the squad. He was the Player of the Match in the last Asia Cup (50-over) final.
“When they had the option of taking 17, they could have gone with the full-strength. I would have included two of the three – Iyer, Siraj and Jaiswal. That said, I can also understand why they may have avoided picking 17. Having too many players on the bench puts pressure on the XI.”
On the other hand, former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath questioned Shreyas Iyer’s omission from the Asia Cup squad. Iyer had scored 604 runs in 17 matches of IPL 2025 for Punjab Kings at an average of 50.33 and a strike rate of 175.07.
“He definitely deserved to get selected. Ajit Agarkar said he was unlucky, but that’s just a convenient route. Iyer has produced excellent numbers over the last two years and done brilliantly as a captain as well,” Badrinath said on his YouTube channel.
India will open their campaign against the UAE at the Dubai International Stadium on September 10.
