Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra expressed disappointment over Mohammed Siraj being reduced to a one-format player. The Hyderabad pacer, who was once an integral part of India’s bowling attack across all formats of the game, is now a regular only in Tests and has been sidelined from ODIs and T20Is. Chopra’s remarks on Siraj comes after India’s poor show with the ball in the ongoing series against South Africa and the struggles of the inexperienced Indian pacers.
Why has Siraj been made one-format player?
In a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra claimed that he failed to understand how Siraj has been reduced to a one-format player. He said that it was impossible to accept the pacer’s absence from ODIs especially since he is regarded very highly for the passion and wicket-taking ability in Tests. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj, India’s pace attack in the IND vs SA ODIs is currently weak and inexperienced.
“But how did he vanish from ODI cricket? He is playing domestic cricket currently. When he was not picked for the Champions Trophy, we were a little disappointed because two years prior to that, he was the highest wicket-taker for India in that format,” Chopra pointed out.
Siraj was a regular in ODIs until 2023, following which he has been ignored consistently in the 50-over format. He played just 3 ODIs in 2024 and as many in 2025. He has 73 wickets to his name from 47 matches in the format and averages 24.67.
“Then suddenly, his name [Siraj] is missing. And it’s still missing. Others are playing – Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna, but Mohammed Siraj is nowhere to be seen. He is not in ODIs, absent from T20Is. Why did this happen? Personally, I don’t know. When did he become a single-format player?,” Chopra added.
