As a precaution, Mohammed Siraj rested for the ODIs against the West Indies and returned home
Mohammed Siraj, an Indian bowler, will sit out the ODI series against the West Indies out of caution owing to a painful ankle, the BCCI said on Thursday.
After India won the 1-0 series, Siraj, along with the other Test returnees — Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat, and Navdeep Saini — returned back to India. Siraj successfully spearheaded the pace attack in the Tests against the West Indies in the absence of veterans like Mohammed Shami.
A BCCI media statement said, “Mohd. Siraj has been released from Team India’s ODI squad ahead of the three-match series against the West Indies.”
The BCCI medical staff suggested rest for the right-arm bowler since they were concerned about his painful ankle.
Siraj’s replacement for the three-match ODI series, which gets underway in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Thursday, has not been announced by India.
Siraj participated in both Test matches against the West Indies and recorded a five-for (5/60) in Trinidad’s second game.
India’s pace attack currently consists of Mukesh Kumar, who has no ODI experience, Jaydev Unadkat, Umran Malik, and Shardul Thakur in Siraj’s place.
Since the IPL, Siraj has been playing constantly. He has bowled in three straight Tests since that time. In order to prepare for the World Cup, he will now immediately attend the Asia Cup camp in NCA, a BCCI source said on Thursday.
None of the first-team regulars, who are expected to play in the World Cup, will go to Ireland for a three-match T20I series, according to PTI.
Siraj will thus not be selected for the forthcoming assignment in Ireland and instead will go with the squad to Pakistan and Sri Lanka to compete in the Asia Cup.
Siraj has participated in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Australia from the year’s beginning.
He played a key role in India’s 2-1 victory over Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and amassed 19 wickets for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 14 Indian Premier League contests. In the World Test Championship final in June, he had also faced Australia.
