India speedster Mohammed Siraj who has dropped from the Rohit Sharma-led squad for the upcoming white-ball series against England and the Champions Trophy 2025 will feature in domestic cricket to make his comeback in the national team. Siraj has started preparing up for the upcoming Group B Ranji Trophy match for Hyderabad against another former champion Vidarbha which is scheduled to take place in Nagpur from January 30 to February 2.
Siraj started his preparation with a training session at the Gymkhana Grounds in Hyderabad.
As per IANS, Shami has 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.
India captain Rohit Sharma said that Siraj has lost his effectiveness with the old ball and was thus dropped after the team's poor outing in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 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 be featured in Hyderabad's next Ranji Trophy match after they meet Himachal Pradesh in Hyderabad from January 23 to 26.
Vidarbha are currently leading in the points table in Group B with 28 points from five matches with Himachal Pradesh at second with 21 points. On the other hand, Hyderabad are currently in sixth position with nine points in five outings with one win, two losses, and two draws.
Apart from Mohammed Siraj, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will also feature for the respective states in Ranji Trophy matches before Champions Trophy 2025.