Mohammed Siraj suffers hand injury ahead of South Africa Tests, at risk of missing entire series
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Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj looked in immense pain after he injured his right hand while fielding for India A on the last day of the second unofficial Test against South Africa A. He joined Rishabh Pant in the dugout, since the wicket-keeper did not take the field with the gloves either.
India A are playing against South Africa A for a two-match unofficial Test series to prepare for the upcoming Test series between India and South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Guwahati Cricket Stadium. They have already won 4 matches in this WTC cycle with two losses and a draw as well. Currently, they are third on the WTC points table.
Mohammed Siraj faces a concerning injury ahead of the South Africa series
Mohammed Siraj joined the India A squad after his return from the Australia tour. He bowled well in the first innings as well, but injured his hand while fielding on the final day of the second unofficial Test between India A and South Africa A.
Siraj took the blow on his bowling hand, the right hand, and was soon taken off the field by the team physio, who too looked concerned about Siraj's injury status. The South Africa tour begins in less than a week, with Siraj not having more than 3 days to recover and begin bowling in the nets.
He is India's second most prominent pace bowling option in Test cricket, alongside Jasprit Bumrah, and in case he misses out, India is most likely to call in Akash Deep as his replacement in the XI.
Mohammed Siraj, seemingly in a lot of pain, leaves the field after injuring his right hand pic.twitter.com/4KsSrNAfeE
— cricmawa (@cricmawa) November 9, 2025
What are India's options in bowling if Mohammed Siraj gets ruled out of the First Test?
Mohammed Siraj's injury update is awaited from the BCCI as well as the Indian team. However, if he is ruled out from the first test, then it is likely that he will need to be replaced by some player from the squad picked for the series against South Africa.
Neither Harshit Rana nor Prasidh Krishna has been named in the Indian Test squad this time around, since they have been named in the India A squad for the unofficial ODI games. Akash Deep has been called back into the India squad.
He is one of the like-to-like changes for Mohammed Siraj, and he can also score some runs down the order. Moreover, Nitish Kumar Reddy remains another option, but he would not come in handy with the ball, and the last option would be in the form of Axar Patel, but that would mark 4 spinners in the side.
Can Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel be part of the same India XI?
Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel are likely to feature for India in the playing XI against South Africa for the first game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Jurel looked in great form against the West Indies and continued the same with twin hundreds in the second unofficial test against South Africa.
Rishabh Pant has made his comeback to the Test side, as he is likely to be back in the Indian middle order at no. 5. If Jurel plays, he will be swapped in at no. 6, and Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar would once again be pushed down the order at no. 7 and 8.
Tagged:
India National Cricket Team South Africa National Cricket Team India A vs South Africa A Mohammed Siraj India A India vs South Africa
