Dropped from Team India, Siraj gears up for next round of Ranji Trophy matches

Hyderabad, Jan 22: Dropped from the Indian squad for the upcoming white-ball series against England and the subsequent Champions Trophy 2025, pacer Mohammed Siraj will be taking to domestic cricket to gain back his spot in the national team. With this in mind, Siraj has started gearing up for the upcoming Group B Ranji Trophy match for Hyderabad against another former champion Vidarbha to be played in Nagpur from January 30 to February 2.

Siraj started his preparation with a training session at the Gymkhana Grounds in Hyderabad on Tuesday. ‌ India skipper Rohit Sharma said the 30-year-old right-handed pacer lost his effectiveness with the old ball and was thus dropped from the team following India's poor performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.

"Mohammed Siraj gets into gear for the upcoming #RanjiTrophy match between Hyderabad and Vidarbha! He kicked off his prep with an intense session at Gymkhana grounds TODAY!" the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) said in a post on X on Tuesday. The HCA also put out a video on X, formerly Twitter, which showed Siraj bowling at full steam in nets to local batters.

Siraj will get into action in Hyderabad's next Ranji Trophy match after they meet Himachal Pradesh in Hyderabad from January 23 to 26. Vidarbha are currently leading the points table in Group B with 28 points from five matches with Himachal Pradesh at second with 21 points. Hyderabad are presently sitting in sixth position with nine points from five matches with one win, two losses, and two draws.

Siraj has recently confirmed his availability for Hyderabad's match match against Vidarbha. Jagan Mohan Rao, the President of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), told IANS that he didn’t know the reason behind Siraj not being available for the game against Himachal Pradesh on January 23. Rao added that there’s a likely chance of Siraj playing the next Ranji Trophy game for Hyderabad, where they will be up against table-toppers Vidarbha, starting on January 30 in Nagpur.

Siraj wasn't picked in India’s squad for the three ODIs against England and the ICC Champions Trophy. In ODI matches from 2022 to 2024, Siraj has picked 71 wickets at an average of just 22.97, the most by an Indian pacer in this period.