‘Abe to Test me rest dena tha na’ – Fans react as Mohammed Siraj is rested for ODIs against West Indies due to workload management

After clinching the two-match Test series 1-0, India will now lock horns against West Indies in a three-match ODI series. The first match of the series will be played at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, in Barbados on Thursday, July 27, while the second fixture will be played on Saturday, July 29 at the same venue. The third and final encounter of the series will be played at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, in Trinidad.

Star India bowler Mohammed Siraj is set to miss the upcoming ODI series against the Windies in order to manage the workload. He has come back to India with his teammates – Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat, and Navdeep Saini. In Siraj’s absence, Shardul Thakur will be the most experienced bowler in the line-up. So far in the ODIs, he has snapped 50 wickets in 35 matches.

Mohammed Siraj has 43 wickets in ODIs since 2022

The other seamers in the line-up, Umran Malik, and Jaydev Unadkat have played a total of a combined 15 ODIs between them. However, the other Indian pacer, Mukesh Kumar is yet to make his international debut. Before the ODI World Cup 2023, India has to play  Asia Cup in Sri Lanka and Pakistan which is scheduled to take place in August & September, and a three-match ODI series against Australia at home.

Siraj will also miss the five-match T20I series against the Caribbean. If we talk about his Test performance against the hosts, he grabbed seven wickets in the two Test matches out of which he bagged five wickets in the first innings of the second and final Test for which he was awarded the Player of the Match award. The match was played at the Queen’s Pak Oval, Port of Spain, in Trinidad.

The 29-year-old last played an ODI against Australia in March 2022 where took five wickets in the series. He was the highest wicket-taker for India and the second-highest wicket-taker of that series. From the start of 2022, he has taken 43 wickets till now, which is the most by an Indian bowler in ODIs.

Here’s how fans reacted:

Wtf decision.. He will be the main pace bowler in the world cup

— Amlan Talukdar (@AmlanTalukdar6) July 27, 2023

he just hated being with kallus tbh

— Mohit Rawat(jos the boss) (@cricketforjos) July 27, 2023

https://twitter.com/adeshpandey717/status/1684425920621477889?s=20

I don't agree with this decision.

— Rishav Baghel (@ImRcbians) July 27, 2023

Not a good decision in my book he can rest in t20 and ire t20 series

— STARK (@Stark3OOO) July 27, 2023

https://twitter.com/shrikantd31/status/1684426102566014977?s=20

https://twitter.com/PatelRikken/status/1684428219301216257?s=20

Can't have 2 bumrahs. Good they're managing him well in a wc year. But resting for 1 test and letting him play ODIs was better, no?

— vaibhav sharma (@SharmaBits) July 27, 2023

https://twitter.com/Chaotic_mind99/status/1684426682663596034?s=20

https://twitter.com/monugamer271/status/1684426289929916418?s=20