India pacer Mohammed Siraj has not played a T20I for nearly 16 months since being a part of the World Cup-winning unit in the Americas in June 2024. The Hyderabad pacer also missed the cut for the forthcoming T20 World Cup title defence at home as India unveiled a fresh set of options under spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on December 20, 2025.
Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers labelled Siraj as unlucky to miss out on the selection which was largely pinned to the balance of the Indian squad.
While Siraj remained integral to India’s drawn 2-2 Test series in England earlier this year, his white-ball representation has currently been limited to only the ODI format. Despite his international reputation, Siraj has only played 16 T20Is in a nine-year career, picking up 14 wickets.
Even though three pacers from the previous edition – Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and all-rounder Hardik Pandya – retained their spots, Siraj lost his place out to Harshit Rana, who is also touted to be handy with the bat.
“We see Siraj in the ODI squad, he’s one of the unlucky guys to miss out. But that is once again down to the balance. You’ve got Bumrah and Arshdeep. Harshit can hold the bat as well. So there are your three seamers. I think that is the reason why you went for Harshit because Siraj is only an outright bowler and they do not want to focus too much on seam bowling. The focus is on the spinners. If they get wickets with the seamers upfront, they almost see it as a bonus in a way. So Siraj is unlucky but at least he is in the ODI plans moving forward for the 2027 World Cup,” de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
‘Harshit’s inexperience’
While he impressed with his wicket-taking efficacy in the recent South Africa T20Is, de Villiers said pacer Rana remains inexperienced with the new ball.
“The problem with Harshit Rana with the new ball is that he doesn’t have a lot of experience at the international level. But if he can give you a few overs with Bumrah and Arshdeep, there’s enough overs and then Shivam and Hardik can fill up. They also cover all bases with spin and that’s where they will focus on trying to win games,” he said.
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de Villiers, however, observed that the Indian bowling attack is well-rounded with a particular emphasis on its strengths in the spin-bowling department.
“When Bumrah has a quiet night a Kuldeep comes through and gets you four and vice versa. Then there’s Hardik coming through in the middle and turning the momentum around. Those are the kind of championship teams you want, and India have got all those bases covered,” he added.
