T20 World Cup 2022: Shami likely to replace Bumrah in the squad

Mohammed Shami 

With only a few weeks left for the T20 World Cup 2022, India has dealt with a massive blow as their star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the tournament. Bumrah has suffered a back stress fracture and will be needing 4-6 months to recover.

Now, with Bumrah ruled out, BCCI will have to rethink their strategy related to the squad that will fly to Australia. The right-arm pacer's back stress fracture leaves management with the task of naming a replacement as well as adding some reinforcements to the standby list as well

According to the latest reports, Mohammed Shami who has been kept on the standby list may get included in the main squad in Bumrah's place. Mohammed Siraj's name is also being floated around as Bumrah's replacement. Deepak Chahar can also be a potential replacement as he is also on the standby list of the T20 World Cup squad.

Shami last played a T20I at the T20 World Cup 2021 against Namibia. Following India's early exit from the tournament, the right-arm pacer was not considered for selection in the shortest format. The management chose to retain the Bengal-born pacer for the remaining formats while looking for new options in T20Is.

Despite a fruitful Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign for the Gujarat Titans (GT) this year he has been overlooked by the selectors. He was exceptional with the new ball and in the slog overs throughout the tournament and finished with 20 wickets as the franchise won the title in their maiden season.

Shami is among the four reserve players named and was slated in the squad for the home T20I series against Australia. However, he tested positive for COVID-19 and didn't recover in time to even feature in the T20I series against South Africa.

He could be included in the squad only after he proves his fitness.

Team India will miss Bumrah as he has been a vital cog of the Indian set-up and there’s no worthy replacement for him considering what he brings to the table. His absence will hurt even more in Australia, where the conditions are favourable for fast bowling.

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