In their penultimate T20I before the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia later this month, the Indian side was defeated by South Africa by 49 runs on Tuesday in Indore. After winning another bilateral series, the Indian team will go for Australia without its full complement of 15 players since they are still deciding how to replace injured Jasprit Bumrah.
After fast bowling ace Jasprit Bumrah was officially declared ineligible for the forthcoming ICC competition due to a stress fracture, Rohit Sharma’s chances of winning the championship took a significant damage. Although the management named Mohammed Siraj as the pacer’s substitute for the recently finished T20I series against South Africa, they have yet to do so for the longer-form match. The management of the Indian team is considering all prospective replacements, even though Mohammed Shami appears like the obvious pick to take the place of the injured bowling ace. Shami is currently recovering from his Covid-19 infection at the NCA, so management plans to wait until the deadline of October 15 to reveal the squad’s final member. This will give Shami plenty of time to heal.
“We’ve time since October 15. We’ve to get reports as to how he’s recovering, and what’s his status after 14-15 days of covid, and we’ll take a call. Once I get a report on how he’s feeling, then obviously we (I and the selectors) can really take a call on how to move forward on it,” Indian head coach Rahul Dravid said in the post-match conference on Tuesday. Mohammed Siraj and Deepak Chahar, who are also competing for a spot in the squad, were given opportunities as a result of the management’s choice to wait until the very last moment to reveal the final member. The pair will be tested in the forthcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, and they will be eager to stake out a solid position for inclusion in the 15-man squad for the T20 WC.
