Indian skipper Rohit Sharma explained why Mohammed Siraj failed to make the cut in squad for the Champions Trophy and the ODIs against England announced on Saturday (Jan 18). The captain said that Siraj's effectiveness dips a little bit when not given the new ball.

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Siraj, who has 71 ODI wickets to his name in 44 games, was not included in the squad especially with uncertainties around Jasprit Bumrah’s availability.
In place of Siraj, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has earned a spot after becoming the highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. 

“That's purely because we thought over it. We are not sure about Bumrah, whether he is going to play or not. So, we thought of wanting someone who can bowl with the new ball and at the backend. So we picked Arshdeep to bowl at the backend. Shami, we all saw what he can do with the new ball," Rohit said during a presser in Mumbai.

"That is where we feel that Siraj’s effectiveness comes down a little bit when he is not bowling with the new ball. We discussed it at length about it, as we are only taking three seamers there because we wanted all these all-rounders with us. It's an unfortunate thing that he has to miss out," the skipper added.

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In eight ODIs, Arshdeep has picked 20 wickets and brings in the variety via his left-arm angles and variations. For the England ODI series, India have also got seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana.

“Arshdeep hasn't played a lot of ODIs, but he has been around the white-ball circuit for a long time. I don't think I feel comfortable saying he is not experienced. He has bowled some tough overs, played T20Is and can handle that pressure," Rohit stated.

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(With inputs from agencies)