On Friday, 20 February, Team India pacer Mohammed Siraj was filmed writhing after being struck by a shot by Hardik Pandya in one of their practice sessions at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. It was even reported that the bowler in the nets hit on his left knee.
Siraj appeared to be in a lot of pain when he was blown as recounted by a journalist of RevSportz. Some photos were distributed in the social media, where the 31-year-old is lying on the ground, with Hardik, and support staff members of India going to check him.
Luckily, it did not appear to be a serious injury since the journalist himself later reported that Siraj came back to bowling after rubbing some pain relief spray. Interestingly, Siraj is a late replacement in the team of the T20 World Cup India 2026. He replaced Harshit Rana who bowling all-rounder had been injured in the knee in a warmup match involving the Men in Blue against South Africa.
Hardik has on the other hand contributed by delivering memorable performances with the bat and the ball in the tournament. He has gotten 87 runs in four innings with a strike rate of 155.35. The right arm seamer has five wickets against four games and the economy rate stands at 7.92.
Mohammed Siraj teething in pain after getting struck on his left knee by a Hardik Pandya shot at the nets. pic.twitter.com/Gqf3LfN2Qy
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) February 20, 2026Mohammed Siraj has featured in India’s playing XI just once so far in the T20 World Cup 2026
In the first match of United States of America (USA), their opponent against India was Mohammed Siraj. He received an opportunity when pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was unfit to play in the game because of sickness.
Siraj delivered an impressive spell of 4-0-29-3. Once Bumrah recovered, though, Siraj sat out the remaining three group-stage matches.
The team led by Suryakumar Yadav has not lost any match in the tournament. They beat the USA, Pakistan, Namibia, and the Netherlands in order to emerge the table-toppers of group A.
The acting champions will fall under Group 1 of the Super 8s which will include Zimbabwe, South Africa and West Indies. They face South Africa in the Narendra Modi stadium on Sunday, 22 nd February.
