Siraj set to join India for Wellington ODI after missing Auckland opener

Mohammed Siraj was left out of India’s playing XI for the first ODI against the New Zealand in Auckland on Wednesday, and he is now expected to be with the squad in Wellington for the second ODI. The omission was not a quiet one.

Mohammad Kaif said Siraj not playing was “beyond my understanding” after the Auckland game. The Indian Express preview asked directly whether Siraj would replace Auqib Nabi in Wellington. The Times of India quoted an ex-cricketer who said the selection calls around Shubman Gill’s side “literally belie logic.”

The likely XI question

Auqib Nabi has now played two ODIs for India and has gone wicketless in both. His debut was unusually expensive as West Indies batters scored off him freely, with the Indian Express and other previews keeping the 84-run feature of that innings in view. Nabi’s record made him the obvious name to carry the criticism.

Siraj is a different case. He remains a regular in Tests, but his ODI career has taken a backseat over the past three years. Since his ODI debut in 2019 he has played 51 ODIs, with 23 of those coming in 2023. Khel Now put the more recent problem plainly: he has played only 10 ODIs since 2023.

The reason given for the Auckland miss was availability, not form. Moneycontrol reported that Siraj was not available for selection in the first ODI and, citing a source in the know, said he would join the ODI squad in Wellington. That matches what Khel Now said about his workload before the series: Siraj had taken four wickets in an India A match against New Zealand A.

By the second-ODI stage, the previews had hardened into a prediction. News24 had Siraj in and Nabi out in India’s probable XI for Wellington, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also named in that likely side. Devon Conway was ruled out due to concussion. SportsTiger described Siraj’s arrival as a major boost for India’s fast-bowling department.

What the commentators said

Not everyone treated the Auckland miss as an error. Irfan Pathan’s read on Cricinfo was that Siraj is “slightly behind right now in ODIs.” That line sits awkwardly beside the criticism from Kaif and the unnamed ex-cricketer, but it does capture the selection tension: Siraj is trusted in the longer format while his shorter-format returns have been inconsistent in terms of matches played.

There was no shortage of numbers to keep the debate specific. The ODI record shows a player who has played 51 matches since 2019 but only 10 since 2023. Nabi’s two-match ODI career has no wicket and an 84-run debut spell against West Indies. A last-rain support detail for Nabi was not in the previews; what was in them was a direct question about whether an uncapped-in-impact debutant should keep the slot ahead of an established fast bowler.

The next concrete step is the second ODI in Wellington, where the probable XI has Siraj alongside Sharma and Kohli. After that, India and New Zealand go into a two-match Test series, and Siraj has said he is looking forward to bowling in New Zealand’s windy conditions and on grassy surfaces. The selection question is whether the Wellington XI keeps the change that drew the criticism or restores Siraj to the attack.