Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has made a sensational statement regarding the exclusion of Mohammed Siraj from India’s squad for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Ball appearances in recent years.
Aakash Chopra has strongly argued that Mohammed Siraj deserved a place in the 2025 Champions Trophy squad and he would not have minded even if Ravindra Jadeja was the one who could have made the fast bowler’s place for the prestigious tournament in Pakistan Dubai next month.
Aakash Chopra slams Mohammed Siraj’s exclusion and questions Ravindra Jadeja’s selection for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Notably, the Indian selectors chose Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh as the top three fast bowlers while opting for Axar Patel and Washington Sundar as spin bowling all-rounders and Ravindra Jadeja in the spin department for the upcoming ICC decided Champions Trophy 2025.
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Kuldeep Yadav is the only specialist spinner in the Indian Champions Trophy squad. Well, Chopra believes that the Indian cricket team has included two left-arm spinners and an off-spinner in the squad for the tournament, but according to him, the national selectors could have omitted one of them to accommodate Mohammed Siraj.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel, “In my opinion, Mohammed Siraj should have been part of this team and I will even say in whose place he should have been there.” The team has two left-arm spinners and one off-spinner . You could have dropped one of the three. If you wanted, you could have left out Ravindra Jadeja and kept Mohammed Siraj in his place.”
Siraj would have had greater value than Jadeja: Aakash Chopra
He has boldly claimed that Ravindra Jadeja will not offer much value to the Men in Blue in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 that Siraj could have offered. Chopra even claimed that Jadeja might not take part in the tournament at all, but it would make more sense to have a player like Siraj who offers better chances of making a significant contribution.
The cricket expert added: “You could have done that because I feel Siraj would have had more value. “He would have been needed more. He would have contributed more to the team and I see less chance of Jadeja playing. Honestly, he couldn’t play at all. So if Jadeja didn’t play, you would have had a player who would have had a better chance of playing.”
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Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra criticized Rohit Sharma for his pretext to drop Mohammed Siraj for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 while highlighting the fiery pacer’s impressive stats in ODI cricket in recent years. Notably, Rohit Sharma had said that Siraj had lost his effectiveness with the ball.
Aakash Chopra criticizes Rohit Sharma for giving an invalid reason for Mohammed Siraj’s snub
As of January 2022, Siraj has played the most games, bowled the most overs and scored the most first overs among Indian bowlers. The cricket expert also mentioned that Siraj has the second best economics ratio, just behind Jasprit Bumrah. The former India batsman also said that Siraj is still one of the best pacers with the old ball.
Chopra concluded by saying, “Someone told me he’s not that effective with the old ball.” We checked the metrics for that too. A user on
