T20 World Cup: Mohammed Shami replaces Jasprit Bumrah in India squad

Mohammed Shami has been named to the 15-member Indian cricket squad for the T20 World Cup 2022, which begins on October 16 in Australia.

Shami was initially named to the T20 World Cup standby list, but a back injury forced Jasprit Bumrah to withdraw from the mega event, opening the door for the veteran pacer.

“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,” stated the Board of Control for Cricket in India in a press release.  

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Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur, who have been designated as backups, will soon depart for Australia. Deepak Chahar was also vying for the position left vacant by Bumrah, but his recent struggles with injuries eliminated him from the running. On October 23, India and Pakistan will play in their opening T20 World Cup encounter.

“Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur have been named as backups and will travel to Australia shortly,” the statement also included.

In the months leading up to the world championship, India has struggled with a number of injuries, including all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who was forced to withdraw from the team due to an injury he sustained during the 2022 Asia Cup.

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Before beginning their Super 12 campaign against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the men in blue will play Australia and New Zealand. They recently played two exhibition games against Western Australia XI in Perth.

Arshdeep Singh, Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Harshal Patel make up the current Indian fast bowling lineup. Before, a number of ex-cricketers and ex-BCCI selectors, including Dilip Vengsarkar and Krishnamachari Srikkanth, expressed their desire for Shami to be included in the team.

Shami had a fantastic run for Gujarat Titans, the IPL 2022 champions, taking 20 wickets in 16 games at a strike rate of 18.30. His RPO economy was 9.00. He had the most wickets for GT during the match.

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Here’s India’s 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, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.