India cricket team pacer Mohammed Siraj stands at the risk of being demoted on the BCCI central contracts list. Despite being one of the experienced all-format bowlers, the Hyderabad pacer was snubbed from the Champions Trophy squad, with Arshdeep and Rana being picked ahead of him. Following the T20 World Cup in 2024, Siraj has mostly played red-ball cricket. Keeping the BCCI policy in mind, where will Siraj find himself on the central contracts list this time?
Will Siraj be retained in category A of BCCI central contracts?
As per the BCCI’s policy, players who perform in all formats are expected to be placed in the A+ and A category. Currently, the A grade comprises of six players – R Ashwin, Shami, Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya. While Ashwin has now retired, there are high chances of Rahul and Gill being promoted to the A+ category. Pandya and Shami are expected to be retained. This leaves us with Siraj.
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Siraj best performance came in Tests in the previous calendar year. He picked up 39 wickets from 27 innings, finishing as the second most over-worked bowler for India. However, the pacer also faced flak for not supporting Bumrah adequately during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. After a string of not-so-impressive performances in Australia, he was dropped from the ODI side for the series against England and the Champions Trophy.
In ODIs and T20Is, he only managed to take 3 and 2 wickets from 3 & 6 games respectively in 2024. It is this sub-par performance in the white-ball formats which could ultimately lead to his demotion on the BCCI’s central contracts list. While Siraj is sure to retain his spot in the Test side, his fate in the white-ball formats hangs in balance.
The central contracts are expected to be handed out to the players following the conclusion of Champions Trophy.
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