Why was Mohammed Shami picked to replace Jasprit Bumrah for T20 WC? Rohit Sharma explains

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on Saturday opened up on why Mohammed Shami was picked as a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 squad. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Rohit explained Shami's inclusion in the Indian T20 World Cup squad as Bumrah's replacement. Rohit said they always wanted to have someone experienced in the team and Shami was the right choice for them. 

Rohit cited Shami's experience of playing for India at the highest level as the key reason behind picking him as Bumrah's replacement in the T20 World Cup squad. Rohit said Shami is someone who has played for India in World Cups before and the quality he brings to the side is irreplaceable. Shami was initially named as a backup player in the T20 World Cup squad but was later added to the main squad 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. 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,” Rohit said.

Shami's return to Indian team

Shami has returned to the Indian setup after recovering from COVID-19, which he contracted in September ahead of India's T20I series against South Africa. In his first match back for India, which was a warm-up game against Australia, Shami picked three wickets and helped his side snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. Shami is expected to feature in the playing XI for India's first match against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday, October 23. 

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.

Image: AP