In a nation that boasts a cricket prodigy from literally every corner of its vast geographical area, it is not surprising that among the finalists for a tournament, the battle of selections would be hard-fought. However, stating this in another, Mohammed Siraj has recently found himself in the line of fire as he was excluded from the squad for the T20 World Cup 2026.
Pacer with the right arm was part of Team India’s playing eleven for the maximum number of matches in the last edition of the tournament, which ultimately was won by the Men in Blue. But since the tournament is being held in the subcontinent this time, the management decided to take a spin-heavy side, which in turn meant that the GT pacer would not be included in the squad.
Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate and South African superstar AB de Villiers reasoned the exclusion of Mohammed Siraj from the T20 World Cup 2026 squad by suggesting that the current combination had no room for the fast bowler. However, he also expressed the hope that at a future date, Siraj might indeed be part of the ODI World Cup 2027 squad. The 31-year-old player has been given a chance to return to the ODI squad for the New Zealand series starting January 11.
“We see Siraj in the ODI squad, he is one of the unlucky guys to miss out. But that is once again down to the balance. You have got Bumrah and Arshdeep. Harshit can hold the bat as well. So there are your three seamers”, said De Villiers on his podcast.
How India Do Without Mohammed Siraj
The Indian team is already pretty much fixed for the T20 international that the tournament wants to prize and will definitely be in the tournament as favorites to defend the title. The order of the batting is quite clear, with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson being the most likely players to take the first two positions. Anyway, the ODI and Test captain, Shubman Gill, would not be favored to be left out, along with Mohammed Siraj.
But De Villiers said that one of the main factors for the management to choose Harshit Rana for the third seamer role after Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh would be his batting skills. Siraj is a classic bowler, and on Indian pitches, the team would prefer to field a spinning-heavy XI.
However, he raised questions with respect to the bowling of Harshit Rana who still lacks the experience of handling new ball. There is no and would not be any doubt that Bumrah and Arshdeep would be the first to bowl for the Indian team. Hardik Pandya would also be there to back up with a couple of overs in the powerplay if necessary. Thus, it might happen that Harshit has to sit out of the playing XI with Shivam Dube as the fourth medium pacer.
“The thing with Harshit Rana and the new ball is that he does not have much international experience. But if he can get you a few overs with Bumrah and Arshdeep, then there is no shortage of overs, and Shivam and Hardik will take over”, said the Protea legend.
The Blue Men have a lot of options and do not have to play safe and do anything big in the campaign. De Villiers mentioned their skill to support one another, which would be a crucial asset in the World Cup.