"If you wished, you could have left out Ravindra Jadeja" - Aakash Chopra says Mohammed Siraj should have been in India's 2025 Champions Trophy squad

Former player Aakash Chopra has reckoned that Mohammed Siraj should have been a part of India's 2025 Champions Trophy squad at the expense of a spin-bowling all-rounder. He added that Ravindra Jadeja could have been left out to make a place for the seamer.

The Champions Trophy will be played in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 onwards. Siraj hasn't been picked in India's 15-member squad for the tournament, with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Arshdeep Singh chosen as the three specialist seamers.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener opined that Siraj could have been picked instead of Jadeja.

"In my opinion, Mohammed Siraj should have been a part of this team and I will even tell in whose place he should have been there. The team has two left-arm spinners and one off-spinner. You could have dropped one of the three. If you wished, you could have left out Ravindra Jadeja and kept Mohammed Siraj in his place," he said (2:15).

Chopra added that Siraj would have had greater chances than Jadeja to be included in the playing XI.

"You could have done that because I feel Siraj would have had greater value. He would have been used more. He would have contributed more to the team and I see lesser chances of Jadeja playing. Honestly speaking, he might not play at all. So if Jadeja is not going to play, you would have had a player who would have had greater chances of playing," he observed.

Axar Patel and Washington Sundar have been chosen as spin-bowling all-rounders alongside Ravindra Jadeja. Kuldeep Yadav is the only specialist spinner in the squad.

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Aakash Chopra on Mohammed Siraj's impressive ODI numbers since January 2022

Mohammed Siraj has picked up 71 wickets at an average of 22.97 in 43 ODIs since January 2022. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Mohammed Siraj had been one of India's most successful ODI bowlers since January 2022.

"Who has played the most ODIs in the last two (three) years, from Jan 1 2022 till now - Mohammed Siraj. Who has bowled the most overs - Mohammed Siraj. Who has bowled the most maidens - Mohammed Siraj. Who has the second-best economy after (Jasprit) Bumrah - Mohammed Siraj. Who has the second-best ODI figures in this period - Mohammed Siraj," he said (2:45).

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the Hyderabad seamer had performed decently even with the old ball, a shortcoming Rohit Sharma had highlighted while reasoning his exclusion.

"Someone was telling me that he is not as effective with the old ball. We checked the metric for that as well. A user on X found out that Mohammed Siraj has been better after the 26th over than some of the best 10 bowlers in the world, which includes Kagiso Rabada, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, in the last year and a half," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra opined that Mohammed Siraj hadn't done anything wrong to be dropped. He added that four fast bowlers, including Siraj, should have been picked as the ball would move in February in Dubai, especially with India playing subcontinental teams in Bangladesh and Pakistan in their first two games.