The BCCI has decided to send Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur to Australia, with Shami most likely to take Bumrah's place in the squad, according to sources. None of the other reserves will be flying out, while Deepak Chahar, who missed the ODI series against South Africa, will also miss the marquee event after sustaining an injury.
While the board is expected to name the replacement in the coming week, Shami cleared his fitness test at National Cricket Academy (NCA), a source told Sports Tak. “When Shami came to NCA we started routine drills and his bowling in nets accordingly. He did well in the nets and cleared all tests conducted,” the source said. As per ICC guidelines, India needs to announce Bumrah’s replacement by October 15.
Earlier, Shami was named in India’s T20I squad for the home series against Australia and South Africa. However, the pacer contracted Covid-19 and could not play a single game. His last T20I appearance was at T20 World Cup 2021. However, naming him in the T20I squad for the home series meant that the 31-year-old was also back in the scheme of things for the short format.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj has emerged as another option for India. Siraj was also named man of the series in the recently concluded ODI series against South Africa. Deepak Chahar could have been another option but he had stiffness in his back and was replaced by Washington Sundar for the South Africa series. Chahar was also a part of the standbys for the mega event but this does not seem to be the case anymore.
As India continues their search for Bumrah’s replacement, they have found a good new-bowling option in Arshdeep Singh. In the practice game, the left-arm pacer took three wickets for just six runs against Western Australia.
Ahead of India’s campaign opener against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Rohit Sharma-led side will take on hosts Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and October 19 respectively in warm-up games.
