Aakash Chopra believes that Mohammed Siraj was labelled a one-format player very early in his career, but the right-arm seamer has managed to prove himself in the shorter formats as well.
After bowling well consistently for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and then the Gujarat Titans, Siraj was picked in India's squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup, and he did a fantastic job in the limited opportunities he received.
"Bahut jaldi humne unko one-format player bana ke choad diya (We made him a one-format player very
soon). It was prematurely decided that he could not bowl with the older ball and should be dropped. He was out of favor for a long time, but his fate changed, and he was picked for the T20 World Cup, where he picked up three wickets in his first match, and now he is back again in the T20 reckoning," Chopra said in a video posted on 'X'.
"That was not right" - Aakash Chopra on Mohammed Siraj getting dropped from India's ODI team
The former India pacer said that the decision to drop Siraj from the Champions Trophy squad in 2025 was a harsh call. Chopra opined that Siraj's place in the T20I team could still be up for debate, but there can't be any doubt about his ODI credentials.
"There was a period when I genuinely felt that it was not right. You played him in all Tests, where everyone needs workload management, but didn't think about him. Then, suddenly one day, you said he was no longer part of the ODI team, and then he was removed from T20Is as well; that was not right," Chopra said.
"He was not in the Champions Trophy team. I thought that was incorrect. His name should have been there. Maybe you can still understand for T20Is, but his name should be there in ODIs," he added.
Siraj had been given rest for the ODI series against Afghanistan, with Prasidh Krishna coming in as his replacement. The former is expected to return to action during the upcoming T20I series against Ireland, starting later this month.
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