India's T20 World Cup 2022 preparations have taken another hit. Ahead of the mega event, India's fast-bowling sensation Umran Malik was expected to fly to Australia and join the contingent in Perth. However, he is currently in India due to some delay in his visa process.
"Due to some issues, Umran's travel to Australia has been delayed and the BCCI has released him for at least the first game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, beginning Tuesday," Brigadier Anil Gupta, the administrator at the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) was quoted as saying to Sportstar.
In the meantime, Malik has been released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to join the Jammu and Kashmir side for the domestic T20 tournament. Malik is likely to feature in the clash against Meghalaya on October 11.
So far, it is not clear for how many matches will Malik be available for Jammu and Kashmir. In this situation, Gupta added, "we will take it match-by-match. For now, he will be available for the first game."
In addition to Malik, it is also learnt that Kuldeep Sen's departure for Australia has been delayed as well. Kuldeep who recently took a fifer in Irani Cup was also expected to be a net bowler. Now, he is expected to feature in Madhya Pradesh lineup when they take on Rajasthan on October 11 in Rajkot.
While India took on Western Australia in their first practice match before the warm-up against New Zealand and Australia next week, standby players like Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer and others are currently in India for the third and final ODI of the series on October 11 at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Rohit Sharma-led India won the practice game by 13 runs as Suryakumar Yadav’s purple patch continued. After Suryakumar’s yet another half-century, Arshdeep Singh took three wickets for just six runs. With support from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India pushed Western Australia on the back foot and registered a comfortable win to start off their preparations in a bid to bring back the trophy after a long wait of 15 years.
