Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2022, Team India suffered a massive blow as ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah got ruled out of the tournament with a back injury.
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 it isn't known whether Shami will find a spot in India’s playing XI for the opening game against Pakistan at MCG on Sunday (October 23), he is certainly making a mark with his performances in the nets.
On the eve of the game, ICC shared a video on Instagram, in which Shami looked in complete control as he bowled at full throttle to skipper Rohit Sharma in a net session.
Shami’s bowling also left the Indian captain impressed as he said: "ye to danger bowler hai (he is a dangerous bowler)" after facing a delivery from the veteran fast bowler.
Mohammad 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.
On the eve of the Pakistan game, Rohit addressed a presser and spoke about why the team picked Shami as Bumrah’s replacement.
“Speaking of Shami, I could say that the guy has so much experience of playing for so many years for India and has played World Cups before as well. We all know the quality he has. When Bumrah got injured, we always wanted to have someone experienced in the line-up and Shami was the right choice for us,” Rohit said at the pre-match press conference on Saturday (October 22).
“Looking at what has happened to him in the last 20-25 days, he got Covid back home and had to miss the series that we played leading up to the World Cup. But with the kind of experience he has, we are sure that he’ll not be short of match practice,” he added.
