India's squad for Asia Cup 2025: Ex-India cricketer Harbhajan Singh was left stunned after fast bowler Mohammed Siraj wasn't included in India's 15-member team for the upcoming Asia Cup. The BCCI revealed the team earlier this week, which became quite debatable as there were a lot of notable omissions from the team. He reckoned that the team would have looked much better had Siraj been included in it.

Siraj, who had played a huge role in helping the Shubman Gill-led side draw the recently concluded Test series against England 2-2, has also performed well in white-ball cricket. In the shortest format, after playing in 16 matches, he has taken 14 wickets, and that too at an economy rate of 7.79. He also had performed brilliantly during his first year with the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025, as he had taken 15 wickets after playing in 16 matches and had bowled 151 dot balls in that time frame.

"I feel that Mohammed Siraj's name should have been in the team. Siraj bowled very well in the recent series (against England). If he had been taken, the team would have looked even stronger. The bowling unit would have seemed stronger. I feel that the X-factor that Siraj brings might be somewhat missed," Harbhajan was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.

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The surfaces in the UAE might turn and grip, where fast bowlers won't play that big of a role during the continental tournament. The team does boast of a well-balanced pace attack as they have Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya as an extra fast bowler option in the side, and thus, they made the right decision of giving Siraj the much-needed rest.

Siraj last represented the country in this format against Sri Lanka in July last year. At the same time, Prasidh Krishna, who was the Purple Cap winner during IPL 2025, where he had taken 25 wickets, has been included in the reserve list, whereas Harshit Rana has been included in the main squad.

The Suryaumar Yadav-led side will lock horns with the host UAE during their tournament opener on September 10.

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India’s squad for the Asia Cup

Surya Kumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (WK), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Prasidh Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel.