The Indian cricket team will take a call on Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement for the T20 World Cup after assessing Mohammad Shami’s fitness.
India, part of the Super 12 stage of the World Cup, can make changes to its squad – without ICC’s permission – till October 15.
While a large contingent of Indian players is set to leave for Perth on Thursday, Mohammad Shami – in the squad as a standby – is likely to join the team later if he passes a mandatory fitness test at the National Cricket Academy.
He will be further assessed in warm-up games ahead of the tournament. Shami missed out on the home T20I series against Australia and South Africa due to COVID-19.
Speaking after the third T20I against South Africa, coach Rahul Dravid said: “In terms of who the replacement is, we'll have a look, we'll see, we've got time till October 15. Shami, obviously, is someone who's in the standbys, but unfortunately for us, he couldn't play this series, which would have been ideal from that perspective. He's in the NCA, we'll have to get reports as to how he’s recovering, and what's his status after 14-15 days of Covid, and we'll take a call.”
Skipper Rohit Sharma said the team will look for bowlers with experience of playing in Australia while picking Bumrah’s replacement.
“We've got to get someone in who's got experience, who's bowled in Australia, and see what he has to offer," the captain said.
Deepak Chahar – the other standby – is part of the ODI series against South Africa and is expected to join the team after October 11.
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