T20 World Cup: Shami or Chahar- who is ahead in the race to replace injured Bumrah?

The absence of star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has left a major void in Team India's bowling lineup for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. BCCI is yet to name the player replacing Bumrah in the team, Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar are in the race to take the last vacant spot in the World Cup team. With the countdown to the mega event getting closer, we take a close look at the stats of both bowlers. 

Mohammed Shami vs Deepak Chahar: Stats breakdown

Jasprit Bumrah had the knack of picking wickets in the powerplay and also in the death overs. As the pacer is ruled out of the T20 World Cup tournament, Rohit Sharma has a huge task in hand in terms of selecting a replacement bowler who can not only provide a breakthrough at the start but also solve the problem of leaking runs in the end.

Shami and Chahar are two very different kinds of bowlers. Chahar relies more on his swing to get wickets, while Shami has pace, swing and bounce which can trouble the batsman. However, the numbers of both bowlers are completely different in the initial and death overs.

While bowling in the powerplay, Shami has been a little more effective than Chahar. Both pacers have conceded runs at an economy of just over 7 runs, but Shami has proved a little better compared to his counterpart. The experienced pacer has conceded 1589 runs, while Chahar has leaked 1657 runs. However, when it comes to wickets Chahar has a huge edge over Shami as he had been consistently playing in the T20I format compared to his experienced counterpart (Shami). Chahar has picked up 54 wickets, while Shami has just 34 wickets.

Coming to the death overs, Shami who holds the edge over Chahar due to his experience. While Shami has 61 wickets to his name in death overs he had done that at an average of 10.71. Chahar has less experience in bowling in powerplays. Though the pacer has an economy of just over 8 runs he has picked up only 22 wickets. However, Chahar finds an edge over Shami due to his batting skills. 

'Now-fit' Mohammad Shami has left for Australia: Report

As per the latest update, several reports have emerged that Mohammad Shami is all set to fly to Australia to be part of the T20 World Cup. Before the departure to Australia, coach Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma had hinted about the inclusion of Shami in the multi-nation event. According to Inside Sport, it is just a matter of formality before Bumrah's replacement is named. 

Whether Shami will play the opening game against Pakistan on October 23 at the MCG is still a question. The team management will be eager to check on his fitness as India plays two warm-up matches before the start of the tournament. They face Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and 19 respectively.