/betbarter/media/agency_attachments/3YXcMKaocLoKtpo5Mw2o.png)
/betbarter/media/post_banners/As9Wk4oxnHv0znesMSS7.jpg)
Mohammed Shami-Sourav Ganguly (source: twitter)
With Jasprit Bumrah having been ruled out of the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022, a spot in India's bowling department still remains vacant. The Men in Blue have a few options in Mohammed Shami, Deepak Chahar, and Mohammed Siraj, who could replace the star pacer. However, a final call on the vacant spot is yet to be made.
Shami, who has been out of the T20I team for a while now, is expected to be named in the squad. However, due to fitness concerns, the Indian Cricket Board is debating whether to include the star pacer in the team. This comes after Shami tested positive for Covid-19 a while ago.
Despite having recovered from the virus, he is still recuperating at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. "BCCI, the selectors and the team management have decided to wait on the progress of the veteran pacer, who is coming out of a bout of Covid-19 virus," reported Cricbuzz.
Death bowling has recently become a major concern for the Rohit Sharma-led team. As visible in the series against South Africa, Jasprit Bumrah's absence haunted the team as they conceded over 200 runs twice in the three-match series. Shami, if he is selected, will have big shoes to fill.
Shami obviously is someone who’s in the standbys: Rahul Dravid
Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid stated that a decision on Shami's inclusion in the team will be made soon. "In terms of who the replacement is, we’ll have a look, we’ll see, we’ve got time until October 15th. Shami obviously is someone who’s in the standbys, but unfortunately for us, he couldn’t play this series, which would have been ideal from that perspective," the Indian head coach said in the press conference after India’s loss against South Africa.
"He’s in the NCA (National Cricket Academy in Bangalore) at the moment – we’ll have 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 reports on how he’s feeling, then we can take a call and the selectors can take a call on how we move forward on it," Dravid added.