India vs West Indies: Mohammed Siraj flies home after being rested for ODI series

Mohammed Siraj has taken a flight back home to India after being rested from the three-match ODI series against West Indies. The fast bowler is joined by fellow Test cricket returnees R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat and Navdeep Saini. India won the Test series 1-0 , with the second contest finishing in a draw . With Mohammed Shami rested for the series, Siraj was expected to lead India’s seam bowling options, which also include Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, Mukesh and Umran Malik apart from allrounder Hardik Pandya. Read | Empty World Cup slots in Team India and the battle among the contenders However, considering his workload, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have decided to rest Siraj from the ODI leg of the West Indies tour. No replacement has been named just yet. India have a busy cricket period ahead. It starts with the Asia Cup from end August to mid-September, followed by a three-game home series against Australia in September and then the big ticket Cricket World Cup in October-November. Siraj, who was already not in the squad for the five-match T20I series against West Indies, picked up seven wickets in the two Test matches , including a fifer at Port of Spain. **India vs West Indies: Head-to-head, records and stats** Prior to this, he was part of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia where he took five wickets, with four of those wickets coming in the first innings. Before the WTC final, he played 14 matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL and took 19 wickets. The 29-year-old last played an ODI against Australia at home in March 2022. He finished the series with five wickets, most for hosts India and second most in the series. Since the beginning of 2022, Siraj’s 43 wickets are the most by an India bowler in ODIs.