Mohammed Shami ruled out of Australia T20Is after testing positive for COVID-19

Mohammed Shami (PC: Twitter)

India pacer Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the T20Is against Australia after he tested positive for Coronavirus. 

India will participate in a three-match T20I series against the Aussies, starting September 20th. 

As per reports, the fast bowler has not travelled to Mohali, the venue for the first T20I. The second T20I will be held in Nagpur on the 23rd of September, with the third game scheduled on the 25th at Hyderabad. 

The development will come as a major blow for the player who would have expected to make his mark in the shortest format of the game ahead of the T20I World Cup in Australia later this year. 

Shami has been named in the India reserves for the marquee event and the games against Australia could have helped strengthen his case for inclusion in T20Is. 

Meanwhile, Shami has been named in the squad for the T20Is against South Africa and it will be interesting to see if he can recover in time for those matches. 

As for India, the Men in Blue will now look to depend on the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar and Jasprit Bumrah for the T20Is against the Aussies. 

Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav has been named as a replacement for Shami. 

Yadav had an impressive IPL campaign and he will join up with the rest of the Indian contingent soon. 

Initially, there were murmurs that Yadav might have sustained a serious injury while playing against Gloucestershire last month, but those fears have been allayed by the NCA and the Indian pacer has been declared fit. 

Also Read: 'Is He Going To Be As Good As Jasprit Bumrah?'-Matthew Hayden on Mohammed Shami