IND vs NZ: Reason why Mohammed Siraj isn't playing second T20I

India’s pacer Mohammed Siraj did not make the cut for the second T20I owing to his injury. He was forced to miss the second match against New Zealand on Friday, November 19 after having injured his left hand while fielding in the series-opener. His unavailability thus made way for Harshal Patel in the team who made his India debut.

Siraj got a web split on his left hand whilst fielding his own delivery in the previous game in Jaipur. The BCCI’s medical team is thus closely monitoring the pacer’s progress. BCCI took it to their official Twitter account to provide an update on Siraj’s injury.

Harshal Patel replaces Mohammed Siraj for the second T20I

Siraj witnessed a decent outing in the first T20I. Though he conceded big runs in the middle overs, he bowled an impressive final over. With him dealing with the injury, Harshal Patel received a green signal to feature in the playing XI. The speedster had impressed everyone with his performances in IPL 2021.

He finished as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament and was thus the purple cap winner. He finished the tournament with 32 wickets to his account from 15 matches. Harshal Patel was thus handed over his India cap by India’s former pacer Ajit Agarkar ahead of the second T20I.

Patel is the sixth oldest T20I debutant for India who will be playing his first match for the country at the age of 30 years and 361 days. BCCI took it to their official Twitter account to share the video of the cap ceremony. “🎥 🎥 Congratulations to @HarshalPatel23 who is set to make his #TeamIndia debut. 👏 👏@Paytm #INDvNZ,” the caption of the post read.

With his heroics in IPL 2021, Patel matched the long-standing record of Chennai Super Kings’ Dwayne Bravo for the highest wickets in a season. He had made his debut in the league in the year 2012 but grabbed all the limelight whilst playing for the Virat Kohli-led RCB this year.

He also picked up a hattrick in the 2021 edition of the IPL and helped the team to qualify for the playoffs. Patel was outstanding in the death overs in the IPL and will be keen to replicate the same for India.