In a big development to the India's T20 World Cup squad, Mohammad Shami has been named Jasprit Bumrah's replacement for the marquee tournament which is slated to start from October 16 in Australia.
Shami has reached Australia and will link up with the squad in Brisbane ahead of the warm-up matches. Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur have been named as backups and will travel to Australia shortly.
"The All India Senior Selection Committee has named Mohammed Shami as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement in India's ICC Men's T20 World Cup squad. Shami has reached Australia and will link up with the squad in Brisbane ahead of the warm-up matches," the BCCI statement read.
“Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur have been named as backups and will travel to Australia shortly,” it added.
The Indian team management had dealt with a number of blows in the month leading up to the World Cup. Ravindra Jadeja, the all-rounder, was the first to be ruled out due to a knee injury. The news of Bumrah's back injury arrived a few weeks before the team's departure for Australia.
Shami had last played in T20 Internationals during the last edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE.
He was supposed to play in the six T20Is at home against Australia and South Africa but tested positive for CIVID-19 and had to remain in isolation. On return he had to prove his fitness before NCA approved his trip to Australia.
Shami has played 17 T20Is and has taken 18 wickets.
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.
