T20 World Cup 2022: Mohammed Shami clears fitness test at NCA, to fly to Australia

With India's T20 World Cup 2022 campaign just less than two weeks away, the selectors and the team management are toiling hard to name pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's replacement for the tournament after a back injury ruled him out. While a replacement was set to be named on last weekend, things did not fall in place as the wait prolonged.

However, it has now been reported that Bumrah's replacement will be named in the coming days. Meanwhile, reserve pacer Mohammed Shami has regained full fitness and is right there in the contention for taking Bumrah's place in the World Cup. 

According to a report in RevSportz, Shami has successfully cleared his fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and will now be leaving for Australia along with Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, and Mohammed Siraj, who all were a part of India's ODI squad for the home series against South Africa.

Shami was selected to get some match practice for the home series against Australia last month, however, he was ruled out after being tested positive for COVID-19. The 32-year-old was also rested for the subsequent white-ball series against South Africa. 

It is to be noted that the UP cricketer, who had an excellent IPL 2022 for the champions Gujarat Titans, has not played a single match for India in the shortest format after 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. He registered 20 scalps to his name from 16 matches averaging 24.40 and an economy of eight. 

Shami regaining a 100% fitness is indeed a good news for the Indian team with bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar being ruled out of the just-concluded ODI series against South Africa. Chahar, who is in the reserves of the 15-member squad, had complained of a back problem after which he was sent to the NCA in Bengaluru to be monitored by the medical team.