Shami took three wickets in one over during India's warm-up match against Australia.
Bumrah’s injury brought experienced campaigner Mohammad Shami brought into the equation even though the latter hasn’t played a T20I for India since November last year.
While Shami’s inclusion got mixed responses from the cricket pundits, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar feels that the seasoned fast bowler can fill Bumrah’s void with his speed and skill sets.
WATCH- Mohammad Shami turns mentor to Shaheen Afridi, shares bowling tips ahead of IND-PAK clash
“Bumrah not being there is a big loss and we obviously needed a strike bowler. An out and out genuine fast bowler, who could attack batters and get wickets. Shami has proven that and he seems a good replacement,” Tendulkar told PTI in an exclusive interview.
Shami was supposed to feature in the recently held T20I series against South Africa and Australia at home, but he caught COVID-19 and was forced to sit out.
Amid the speculations over his match fitness, Shami on Monday (October 17) starred with the ball in India’s 6-run victory over Australia in an official warm-up game at the Gabba. He picked three wickets and defended 11 runs in the one over that he bowled.
Meanwhile, Tendulkar seemed very impressed with young left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who has taken 19 wickets in 13 T20Is so far.
“Arshdeep has shown a lot of promise and he looks a balanced guy. And whatever I have seen of him, he looks a committed fellow because you can see a player, you can make out looking at his mindset,” the batting maestro said.
“What I really like is that if Arshdeep has a plan, he commits to it and that is really, really important in this format as batters are going out and playing those extra shots and some innovative ones. So if you have a plan, commit to it.”
During the T20 World Cup 2022, India will be playing matches at grounds with bigger side boundaries like MCG, SCG, Adelaide, and the Optus Stadium in Perth.
According to Tendulkar, it is difficult to hit against the spin on bigger Australian grounds.
“With the turn you end up playing more in the direction of the turn and there are only few batters, who have been able to hit consistently against the turn. Normally, captains look at the boundary dimensions and decide which bowler (off-spinner/leg spinner or left-arm spinner) should play. You also look at the direction in which the breeze is blowing before picking a spinner.
“It also depends on bowling style and which areas one likes to attack. Whether it is more towards the batter’s body or outside the off-stump. Ideally, if you pick an off-spinner, you would want to introduce him from the end where the off-side boundary is shorter in case batter wants to hit against the spin,” he explained.
Defending totals have been a cause of concern for the Rohit Sharma-led side heading into the T20 World Cup, but Tendulkar attributed a lot of that to conditions and toss.
“I think sometimes it is also the conditions and defending totals has been a problem. Conditions do change during the course of the game and chasing does become easier.
“At certain venues, toss becomes important when you know dew is going to be a factor. Whatever the runs you score, once the ball starts getting wet and outfield gets wet, then you can still get out and score those extra runs than the side batting first,” he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)