'I feel that the X-factor....' - Former World Cup winner bashes BCCI for not selecting this player in Asia Cup 2025

The Indian squad for the Asia cup 2025 tournament is out. The 15 member squad was named and several names for missing out in the squad. The likes of Shreyas Iyer Yashasvi Jaiswal couldn't make it into the squad and the fans created a huge uproar on social media after their snub. Their names were even trending on Twitter and other social media platforms. But former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh has named another player who was in the contention of making it to the squad, but the management decided not to go with his name.

Harbhajan named Mohammed Siraj as the key factor of the Indian cricket team who should have been in the Asia cup squad. He also termed the pacer as the X factor for the team. It is worth noting that Mohammed Siraj was part of Indian team on the England tour and he played all the five test matches and became the top most wicket taker in the series. He backed 23 wickets across 10 innings to become the highest wicket taker in the series.

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"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.

Mohammed Siraj was player of the match in Oval Test

Siraj was particularly crucial in the final test and was the lawnmower in India's win in the final test. For the unversed, BCCI has gone with Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah as the premier pacers for the Asia cup 2025 leaving out Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna.

Here is the full squad:

• Suryakumar Yadav (Captain)
• Shubman Gill (Vice-captain)
• Abhishek Sharma
• Tilak Varma
• Hardik Pandya
• Shivam Dube
• Axar Patel
• Jitesh Sharma (Wicketkeeper)
• Jasprit Bumrah
• Arshdeep Singh
• Varun Chakaravarthy
• Kuldeep Yadav
• Sanju Samson (Wicketkeeper)
• Harshit Rana
• Rinku Singh