While the Indian selectors are yet to name injured Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement in the 15-member T20 World Cup 2022 squad, pacer Deepak Chahar has been ruled out of the upcoming ICC event, reported India Today on Wednesday (October 12).
Notably, Chahar was named as one of the four standbys for the T20 World Cup, slated to be held in Australia from October 16 to November 13.
After a long injury lay-off, Deepak Chahar made his comeback to the national team during the ODI tour to Zimbabwe last month. As a result, he was included in the World Cup reserves but the right-arm seamer was ruled out of the recently-concluded ODI series against South Africa due to a stiff back.
Meanwhile, the report published in India Today suggests that Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur are set to depart for Australia on Thursday (October 13).
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The three players will join the rest of the India squad, which is currently fine-tuning its preparations in Perth.
According to the report, Shami, who is considered as first-choice to replace Bumrah in the squad, will have his final fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Notably, Shami recently recovered from COVID-19, which forced him out of the T20I series against South Africa and Australia at home.
On the other hand, Siraj has strengthened his claims as Bumrah’s replacement after his exploits in the home ODI series against South Africa. He played an instrumental role in India’s 2-1 series win over the Proteas.
The right-arm pacer finished the three-match ODI series with five wickets to his name and rightfully earned the Player-of-the-Series award. The Hyderabad lad looked in terrific rhythm with the new ball and kept the run flow in check.
As per the report, the team management will name Bumrah's replacement after assessing the three pacers in Australian conditions. However, Shami seems to be the front-runner because of his experience.
Team India will open their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at MCG on October 23.
(India Today inputs)
