NEW DELHI: Trailing 1-0 in the three-match series against New Zealand, a desperate India opted for three big changes in their playing XI for the second Test in Pune on Thursday.
Skipper Rohit Sharma announced at the toss that Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav miss out and Akash deep, Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar have replaced them in the side.
While Rahul’s exclusion was on the expected lines, the think-tank wanted an extra off-spinner in Sundar because of left-handers in the opposition.The big talking point, however, was Siraj’s snub.
The move too wasn’t a big surprise as Siraj’s numbers have been really poor at home recently and with Akash Deep’s stocks rapidly rising, the swap was around the corner.
In 2024, an out-of-form Siraj had multiple below-par outings in the longest format at home which were a cause for concern for the Indian team.
The 30-year-old did not feature in domestic cricket during the international break which also prevented him from regaining his lost form and rhythm.
At the start of the year, Siraj played four out of the 5 Tests against England but managed only six wickets in them. In the first Hyderabad Test, which is also his home ground, Siraj went wicketless and England went on to win that match by 28 runs.
The pacer missed out the second Vizag Test and then bounced back strongly in the first innings of the Rajkot game. However in the second essay, he was once again wicketless.
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In the Ranchi Test against the same opposition, Siraj managed only a couple of wickets and was once again wicketless in Dharamsala.
As the Bangladesh Test series at home marked the new season for India, Siraj hadn’t featured in domestic cricket prior to that and that resulted in him only managing a couple of wickets in Chennai. In the following Kanpur Test, Siraj once again only bagged a couple of wickets, raising further concerns over his performances at home.
The next outing was against New Zealand at home and Siraj was once again in the spotlight as he only grabbed a couple of wickets in the first innings and went wicketless in the second.
Akash on the other hand has been making an impact in his every outing with the ball.
In the last Bangladesh series as well, the 27-year-old was quite impressive, managing five wickets and troubled the batters with his accurate line and lengths.
A nine-wicket haul in a Duleep Trophy game followed by impressive performance against Bangladesh and Siraj’s under-performace in the opener against the Kiwis helped Akash get the nod ahead of his senior teammate for the second New Zealand Test.
