Revealed: Why Mohammed Siraj Is Not Playing Today’s Match vs Australia

India are taking on Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. While senior players have been rested for the first two games, ace pacer Mohammed Siraj has also missed the first game.

Indian stand-in skipper KL Rahul won the toss and opted to field first. Mohammed Siraj, who is the no.1 ranked ICC bowler, wasn’t named in the Indian XI for the first ODI against Australia, and that raised quite a few eyebrows. India went with Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shardul Thakur as three pacers in the team.

The reason behind Mohmmed Siraj not playing in the first game, however, has been revealed. The pacer has not been keeping well since the last few days and therefore team management didn’t risk him for the series opener. Former Indian player Abhishek Nayar updated about the same on Jio Cinema.

“Siraj has been under the weather for the last couple of days. That’s why the management did not risk him. We are talking about Shami because he is back but we have to remember that he is a top bowler. Not too long ago, he was India’s best pacer. So that’s not a bad replacement to have.”

Mohammed Shami, however, did a great job in the absence of Mohammed Siraj in the first game. He bowled staggering well with the new ball and removed dangerous Mitchell Marsh on just 4 runs in the first over of the game.

Ravichandran Ashwin finds the place, and Mohammed Siraj misses out from India’s XI for the first ODI against Australia

Apart from Mohammed Siraj missing out, Ravichandran Ashwin, who was included in the squad for the series, made a straight entry into the XI. India have gone in with just 5 specialist bowlers including Ravindra Jadeja. It remains to be seen if Suryakumar Yadav chips in with the ball or not. Here’s the Indian XI for the first ODI:

Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (c & wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami