Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has suggested the Indian management to pick Mohammed Siraj as the replacement for injured Jasprit Bumrah for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

Gavaskar is advocating for Siraj’s selection after watching him bowl in the just-concluded ODI series against South Africa.

The right-arm pacer played an instrumental role in India’s 2-1 series win over the Proteas. He finished the three-match ODI series with five wickets to his name and rightfully earned the Player-of-the-Series award.

See Also: Shami, Siraj and Shardul set to depart for Australia; Deepak Chahar ruled out – Report

“I’d go for Siraj because he has been bowling well; Shami has not played for a while. And to hit your steps straight away in a World Cup, yes, there are a couple of warm-up matches,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“As of now, nobody has been selected as the 15th player. I don’t know…has he gone with the team to Australia? He hasn’t gone. So he has played no cricket. And that’s a concern,” he added.

While Mohammad Shami is considered as front-runner to replace Bumrah in the squad, the veteran pacer hasn’t played competitive cricket lately.

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.

“No doubting his quality. Just the fact that he (Shami) has not played any cricket. It’s never easy to come back after Covid. Your stamina can be a little bit of suspect – I know it’s a four-over game in T20I cricket. But look at the way Siraj has been bowling. He’s bowling brilliantly,” Gavaskar remarked.

India will begin their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan at MCG on October 23.