Mohammed Shami replacing Jasprit Bumrah will give India a bit of X-Factor: Suresh Raina

Jasprit Bumrah was the solution to India’s death bowling woes in the T20 World Cup, but with his injury (back), things were not looking good for India, especially when Harshal Patel and Bhuvneshwar Kumar looked average against Australia and South Africa in the bilateral series. Mohammed Shami was the favourite to replace the speedster but his fitness was a major point of discussion. However, with time he passed the test at the NCA to finally join the Indian squad in Australia.

Now, making his return to competitive cricket after quite some time, captain Rohit Sharma didn’t bowl him a single over until the 20th, where he picked up three wickets defending just 11 runs against Australia in India’s first warm-up game. Bowling an immaculate line and length, Shami destroyed the Aussie batters to pick up an important win for India ahead of the T20 World Cup. 

Now, it’s not just Shami, KL Rahul’s return back to form is also a massive boost for the Indian team going forward. Suryakumar Yadav with another 50 in the warm-up game announced his arrival in the tournament while India’s fielding was top-notch. With all the boxes being ticked, former India international Suresh Raina is very optimistic before the tournament and spoke about India’s chances to win their second T20 title.

“The team is doing well right now. Shami has replaced Bumrah, it will give the side a bit of X-factor. We have Arshdeep Singh, Suryakumar Yadav. Everyone is in good form, Virat Kohli is looking really good. Rohit Sharma is a very good leader, if we win the first match, it will set a good tone for us. Everyone in the country is praying for them and I really want them to win the World Cup,” said Raina in an interview with NDTV.

BCCI has done well in sending the team to Australia 15 days prior to the tournament: Raina

The Men in Blue travelled to Australia well before time to get habituated to the Australian conditions and that can prove to be a crucial factor on their road to the final. The conditions down under is very different than that of India and most importantly, one needs enough practice to settle down and perform well in the big grounds of Australia. The 35-year-old Suresh Raina understands that and lauded BCCI for sending the team 15 days before the tournament begins.

“BCCI have done really well in sending the team to Australia 15 days prior to the tournament. The grounds are big, overall I think the preparation has been nice. We will need to play fearless cricket and show good intent,” said Raina in the same show.