T20 World Cup 2022: Mohammed Shami flies to Australia after clearing NCA fitness test
Mohammed Shami (Source: Twitter)
According to the latest reports, the ace pacer Mohammed Shami has passed the fitness test and will depart for Australia along with Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi and Mohammed Siraj.
Shami was one of the four reserve players of the Indian team for the T20 World Cup slated to start in a few days' time. He was named in the T20I series against South Africa, which would have served as a good preparation ahead of the showpiece event.
However, the 32-year-old tested COVID-19 positive and did not feature in any of the matches in the series. Furthermore, he had to undergo a fitness test before boarding the flight to Australia, which he passed with flying colours.
Shami's well-being will also help India to regain confidence for the mega event, due to his experience and track record. The injury concerns of Jasprit Bumrah already put the Men in Blue in backfoot, with only Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the experienced campaigner.
It will be the first ICC event for Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel, and Team India certainly received a boost with Shami joining the squad.
India are scheduled to play two warmup matches against Australia (October 17) and New Zealand (October 19), which can witness Shami returning to action after three months. He is currently the front runner to fill the boots of Bumrah.
India will kickstart their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on Sunday (October 23), which will give enough time for Shami to understand the surfaces in Australia.
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