Siraj, who impressed with his performances for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans in the IPL, earned a recall to India’s T20I setup for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Despite limited opportunities, he made an impact with the ball and strengthened his case as a multi-format option for the national side.
Chopra, speaking on his YouTube channel and social media platform ‘X’, said Siraj was prematurely written off as unsuitable for white-ball cricket.
“Bahut jaldi humne unko one-format player bana ke chhod diya (We made him a one-format player very soon). It was decided too early that he could not bowl with the older ball and should be dropped. He was out of favour for a long time, but his return and T20 World Cup selection show that things have changed again,” Chopra said.
The former India opener further questioned Siraj’s omission from major white-ball squads in the past, particularly the 2025 Champions Trophy, calling the decision unfair.
“There was a period when I genuinely felt it was not right. You kept him in Tests where workload management is crucial, but then suddenly excluded him from ODIs and T20Is. That was not right,” he added.
Chopra emphasized that while there may still be debate around Siraj’s T20I role, his ODI credentials remain unquestionable given his consistency and impact in the format.
Siraj was recently rested from India’s ODI series against Afghanistan, with Prasidh Krishna stepping in as his replacement. He is expected to return to action in the upcoming T20I series against Ireland later this month, where selectors will once again assess his role across formats.
