Not Shreyas Iyer Or Yashasvi Jaiswal, BCCI Slammed For Excluding This 'X-Factor' Star From India's Asia Cup 2025 Squad
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has specified one name whose absence, he feels, will be missed by the team in the Asia Cup 2025.
- India's Asia Cup 2025 squad excludes a number of high-profile names like Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal
- However, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has pointed out the absence of another star
- Harbhajan lamented the omission of pacer Mohammed Siraj, stating that India will miss his X-factor
India's squad for the Asia Cup 2025 has stirred debate and discussion, with a number of high-profile names being left out of the 15-man squad chosen by the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection committee. The omission of Shreyas Iyer has created the most buzz, with the batter having led his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise to two consecutive finals, and having smashed over 600 runs in IPL 2025. However, according to former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, it is the X-factor of another player that India will miss the most.
"I feel that Mohammed Siraj's name should have been in the team. Siraj bowled very well in the recent series (against England)," Harbhajan said, speaking on his own YouTube channel.
"If he had been taken, the team would have looked even stronger. The bowling unit would have seemed stronger. I feel that the X-factor that Siraj brings might be somewhat missed," Harbhajan added.
Siraj has been out of India's T20I setup ever since India won the T20 World Cup 2024 title.
Siraj has been a crucial part of the Test team, taking more than 20 wickets in each of India's five-match away series against Australia and England.
However, Siraj has been completely out of India's white-ball scheme of things off late, even missing out on the Champions Trophy 2025.
India have selected Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana as the three seamers for the Asia Cup, with Hardik Pandya being a potential seam option as well.
While Arshdeep is India's highest-ever T20I wicket-taker and few can doubt Bumrah's class, Harshit has impressed in his limited appearances for India in T20Is.
Prasidh Krishna, the Purple Cap winner of IPL 2025, during which he took 25 wickets, is the only pacer among the reserves for the squad. Prasidh and Siraj were teammates at Gujarat Titans (GT). Siraj picked up 16 wickets in the tournament.
India Cricket Team
Harbhajan Singh