Dinesh Karthik Comments on Mohammad Siraj’s Exclusion from India’s Champions Trophy 2025 Squad 

The Indian team targets a strong performance at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. All the team matches on the group stage will be played in Dubai. Its opponents will be Bangladesh, Pakistan, and New Zealand. Recently, BCCI officially named the players who will be included in the tournament squad. The roster turned out to be very strong in terms of names, but experts and fans have entered into a controversy discussing the non-inclusion of some players. According to former wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik, pacer Mohammad Siraj is one such player.

‘Sad but Fair’ 

Commenting on Siraj’s non-inclusion in the Indian roster, Karthik did not hide his disappointment. He pointed out that this star player could have brought tangible benefits to the team. On the other hand, the decision looks fair as the officials couldn’t help but include Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in the roster. And, of course, Arshdeep Singh is showing impressive results in white-ball cricket. Therefore, the expert believes the choice in its favor is also fair. 

‘Siraj Can Use This Situation to Motivate Himself’ 

India is currently in active preparation for ICC CT 2025. On January 22 and 25, the team played two games against England as part of the five-match T20I series. From February 6 to 12, the teams will play the three-match ODI series. According to Karthik, Siraj may consider himself disappointed that Harshit Rana was picked instead of him for the first few matches of the ODI series against Three Lions. However, according to the expert, this situation can motivate the player. Mohammad has the skills to prove relevance to the team. Therefore, he will be determined to do whatever is necessary to be noticed again.