Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur will join the Indian team in Brisbane ahead of the warm-up game leading up to the T20 World Cup.
While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to make a formal announcement about Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement, Sportstar understands that Shami is the frontrunner.
Shami was kept on standby along with Deepak Chahar, but now with Chahar ruled out with a back injury, the team management and the selectors want to bring in Shami as the 15th member of the squad. However, a final decision will be taken once he reaches Australia.
Shami, who was recently down with COVID-19, cleared the mandatory fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and in the absence of Bumrah, the team management believes that his experience will come in handy.
Shami hasn’t played T20Is since November last year, even though he featured in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) for Gujarat Titans. In 16 matches, Shami claimed 20 wickets and excelled in the Powerplay.
In Chahar’s absence, Siraj and Thakur will join the team as backups. As per initial plans, Siraj was to join the camp in Perth earlier this month, but he was included in the ODI squad against South Africa. In the three ODIs, Siraj claimed five wickets, while Shardul grabbed three.
Shreyas Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi will not travel to Australia for the T20 World Cup now. Bishnoi featured in Rajasthan’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy fixture against Vidarbha in Rajkot on Wednesday. However, it is not certain if Iyer will join the Mumbai squad immediately. Suryansh Shedge, meanwhile, will replace Shardul in the Mumbai squad for the tournament.
Earlier, the BCCI had decided to fly out Umran Malik for the side games in Australia, but his travel was delayed due to visa issues. He featured in the Jammu and Kashmir team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy opener against Meghalaya.
India begins its T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 23.
Comments
SHARE