Ace fast bowler Mohammad Shami, who was set to make his comeback into India’s T20I side against Australia in the upcoming three-match T20I series which begins September 20, has been ruled out entirely due to Covid infection.

Shami hadn’t played cricket since July 2022 and didn’t appear in a T20I since T20 World Cup 2021.

The games against Australia - on September 20, 23, and 25 - and those against South Africa - on September 28, October 2, and October 4 - are the last T20Is that India plays before the World Cup next month.

BCCI confirmed this news via a press release on September 18, 2022, and named Umesh Yadav as his replacement. Yadav recently returned from his county stint with Middlesex due to a quad injury and is set to play his first T20I in three years.

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“Fast bowler Mohd. Shami will not be able to take part in the upcoming three-day Mastercard T20I series against Australia after testing positive for COVID-19. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Umesh Yadav as his replacement,” the release said.

On the other hand, Navdeep Saini, who was part of the India A squad for the upcoming one-day series against New Zealand A, has sustained a groin injury.

He suffered the injury on Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy semi-final match between North Zone and South Zone. He will take no part in the ongoing tournament and will also miss the upcoming three-match one-day series between India A and New Zealand A.

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Saini will now head to the NCA for further management of his injury. 

The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Rishi Dhawan as Saini’s replacement in India A squad.

India squad for the Australia series:

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, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.

India A squad for New Zealand A one-dayers:

Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Rajat Patidar, Sanju Samson (Captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Rahul Chahar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Sen, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Rishi Dhawan, Raj Angad Bawa.

(BCCI inputs)