• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

India's star pacer Mohammed Siraj witnessed a major setback as he was not included in the team's 15-member squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, starting on February 19.

Siraj could be seen in action soon after the disappointing snub as the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has said that the pacer is likely to be available for their next Ranji Trophy match against Vidarbha on January 30.

Hyderabad are placed sixth in the Elite Group B table of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season with nine points from five matches. They will resume their campaign in the tournament against second-ranked Himachal Pradesh at home on January 23.

ALSO READ: Novak Djokovic Reveals Reason For Controversially Avoiding On-court Interview During Australian Open 2025

Jagan Mohan Rao, the President of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) said that he is not aware of the reason for Siraj not being available for the match on January 23.

Siraj wasn't picked in India’s squad for the three ODIs against England and the ICC Champions Trophy. In ODI matches from 2022 to 2024, Siraj has picked 71 wickets at an average of just 22.97, the most by an Indian pacer in this period.

In his place, the Indian team roled in the left-arm young pacer Arshdeep Singh, alongside Jasprit Bumrah (subject to fitness), Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya and Harshit Rana (included only for England ODIs).

Siraj had recently picked 20 wickets at an average of 31.15 across all five Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. However, India lost the five-match Test series 1-3.

As of now, the upcoming round of the Ranji Trophy will see Ravindra Jadeja (Saurashtra), Rishabh Pant (Delhi), Shubman Gill (Punjab), Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal (both Mumbai) turning out for their domestic teams, whereas KL Rahul and Virat Kohli are out due to respective injury issues.

ALSO READ: Harbhajan Singh Questions Karun Nair's Omission From Champions Trophy 2025 Squad

The series of Indian players making themselves available for the ongoing Ranji Trophy season has come after BCCI reportedly introduced a 10-point policy that mentioned the importance and compulsion of participation in domestic cricket.

The guidelines also claimed that non-compliance could impact international selection and central contract renewals.