- Mohammed Shami named in India’s 15-man team to replace the injured duo.
- India last won worldwide crown with Champions Trophy in 2013.
India has the bench strength to compensate for the loss of injured stars when its T20 World Cup campaign begins against archrival Pakistan on Saturday, according to skipper Rohit Sharma.
Mohammed Shami has been named to India’s 15-man team to replace pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who is sidelined with back problems for the prestigious competition in Australia, which begins on Sunday.
Due to injury, key all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja would also miss the competition, but Rohit said the team was ready for the challenge with the players they had.
“Injury is part and parcel of the sport. Injuries will happen if we play so many matches, so our focus for the last one year was that we had to build bench strength,” Rohit told reporters at a press conference in Melbourne.
“Our focus is to try and create backups and give them opportunity. The bowlers, who have come with us in the World Cup, have played enough matches.”
India, which last won a worldwide crown with the Champions Trophy in 2013, will kick up their campaign against Pakistan on October 23 in Melbourne.
Shami, 32, was a last-minute substitute as the team waited for his COVID recovery, which caused him to miss the home series against Australia and South Africa.
The experienced fast will join the rest of the group in Brisbane for two warm-up matches against the hosts and New Zealand.
“Whatever we have heard about Shami has been very positive,” said Rohit.
“His recovery after COVID has been good and (he) has had three to four bowling sessions with full intensity. All’s looking good with Shami.”
Shami will join Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh as fast bowlers.
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