Former Indian batter Suresh Raina has opined that Mohammed Siraj could be added to India’s Champions Trophy squad if Jasprit Bumrah fails to recover on time. Bumrah has been picked for the Champions Trophy squad whereas Siraj was ignored by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel.
Siraj was surprisingly dropped despite his consistent performances in the ODI format. The fast bowler from Hyderabad has scalped 71 wickets in 44 ODIs at an impressive average of 24.06.
On the other hand, Bumrah suffered a back injury in the fifth Test match against Australia and the gun fast bowler could not bowl in the second innings at the SCG. Bumrah’s selection is conditional to him recovering fully from the back spasms.
Suresh Raina said on Star Sports Press Room, “Siraj was in a different form in Australia but you can change the squad till 12 February. So I feel Siraj can be back in the side if Bumrah is not fully fit.”
“Harshit Rana has done well. He has good pace, good bumper, variation, yorker and pace. He and both Arshdeep Singh can bowl at the death, but I still feel Siraj is a better option if Bumrah is not there,” the 38-year-old went on to add.
On the other hand, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav have been added to India’s Champions Trophy squad. Both of these bowlers will come into action after a long time.
“Shami lacks match practice, Bumrah is still uncertain and Kuldeep is returning back from an operation. What will be important is to see who will partner Kuldeep in the spin department.”
India will begin their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.
India squad for the Champions Trophy: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant(wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah*, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal
