Mohammed Shami has replaced Jasprit Bumrah in the India squad of the T20 World Cup. According to a BCCI statement, Shami has landed in Australia and will join the team in Brisbane ahead of India's two official warm-ups against the hosts and New Zealand on 17 and 19 October respectively.
As reported, Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj, who were named Player of the Series earlier this week in India's 2-1 win over South Africa in the 50 over format, have been named as backups. Both will travel to Australia soon, the BCCI said.
When Bumrah was excluded of the World Cup on October 3, he was sidelines for about six weeks with a stress-related back injury. Shami was the favorite to replace him, particularly after head coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma indicated they would prefer someone with previous experience in Australia. Shami has been on several tours of Australia and was involved in two Test Series wins and an ODI World Cup in 2015 where he was the second highest wicket taker for India.
In Australia, Shami will join a bowling attack with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel, with Hardik Pandya as all-round option.
Shami hasn't played any cricket in the past three months. He was named to India's T20I squad for the home series against Australia and South Africa in September, but had to exit after testing positive for Covid-19. Shami then resumed training after returning a negative test on September 28 and is believed to have approved the cardiovascular test imposed by the BCCI last week.
Shami hasn't played against T20I in nearly a year and was last seen in the format during the 2021 World Cup in the UAE. He took six wickets from five games at an 8.84 economy in the tournament.
However, it has since racked up a rich return in the IPL for debutant Gujarat Titans, who have also become champions. Shami finished as the highest wicket holder for the Titans, taking 20 wickets but mostly in all 16 games.
None of the other originally named reserve players - Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, and Deepak Chahar - are currently on the road. Chahar was touted as Shami's closest competitor for the vacancy created by Bumrah's back injury. However, Chahar is currently with the National Cricket Academy following new concerns on his back. He was later withdrawn from the South African series.
T20 World Cup India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-capt), Virat Kohli, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), R. Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami
Reserve players: Mohammed Siraj, Ravi Bishnoi, Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur.
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