I'll also take wickets if I bowl half the team's overs like Siraj does: Kris Srikkanth

Former India captain and chief selector Kris Srikkanth raised his reservations about the form and output of Mohammed Siraj, and claimed that the right-arm speedster should not be a certainty in India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad.

Since the start of 2023, among Indians, only Kuldeep Yadav (53) has taken more wickets in ODIs than Siraj. The 30-year-old was also India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Border-Gavaksar Trophy, where he took 20 wickets at an average of 31.15. 

But previewing the 2025 Champions Trophy on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth claimed that Siraj generally claims a ton of wickets only because he ends up bowling half the team’s overs.

"Siraj was the second-highest wicket-taker [in Australia] because he bowled the second most number of overs. Even I'll take the same number of wickets if I had bowled half the team's overs,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

The former India chief selector further asserted that the Indian management should consider going back to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in white-ball cricket. Srikkanth labeled Bhuvneshwar, who last played for the national team in 2022, as the forgotten man of Indian cricket. 

"If you give Bhuvneshwar Kumar the same backing you are giving Siraj, he'll move the ball around and get you wickets,” Srikkanth said.

“He's been forgotten completely after the 2022 T20WC. He's come back and is doing well in domestic cricket. India should have a fresh look at him.”