Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was a surprise exclusion from India’s Champions Trophy squad. The right-arm pacer was ranked in the top five of the ICC ODI rankings when snubbed from the Champions Trophy squad. Astonishingly, even when pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the tournament with a back injury, India picked Harshit Rana as his replacement, not Siraj.
The Hyderabad cricketer, one of the very few Indian cricketers who is a regular in all three formats, has in fact, missed a lot of cricket since playing the fifth Test against Australia at Sydney in early January. He was not a part of India’s white-ball squads for the home series against England.
However, this has not dampened his spirits. He doesn’t want to put himself under pressure by thinking about selection.
“Look, selection is not in my hands. I have only a cricket ball in my hands and I wanted to do as much as I can with that. I don’t want to put pressure on myself thinking about selection, as I want to focus on my performance,” Siraj told PTI.
Siraj said tournaments like the Asia Cup of England remain at the back of his mind, but he tries to focus on the present. “Yeah aș a player, it remains in the back of your mind that there is a tour of England and the Asia Cup but I don’t really seriously think about it, as my focus is on IPL and doing well for Gujarat Titans and helping them win another IPL title,” he said.