Mohammed Siraj rested for ODI series against West Indies to manage workload

Team India’s promising speedster Mohammed Siraj has been rested for the ODI series against West Indies starting from today.

As per reports, Siraj has flown back home to manage workload. He played both the matches in the recently concluded Test Series  against West Indies which India won 1-0. He was in brilliant form and he clinched a five-for in the second match in Trinidad.

In the absence of veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, Siraj was expected to lead the Indian pace attack. However, BCCI took the decision keeping in mind the workload on the bowler.

However, a decision on Siraj’s replacement is yet to be taken. With the first ODI scheduled for Thursday, India now have an  inexperienced pace attack comprising of Jaydev Unadkat, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, and uncapped (in ODIs) Mukesh Kumar.

Notably, the need for Siraj to remain fresh for the major tournaments is further aggravated with the absence of premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who last played for India in September last year. Even as BCCI revealed last week that Bumrah is regaining fitness and will take part in practice matches in National Cricket Academy (NCA Bengaluru), his date of return is not yet certain.