T20 World Cup 2022: Mohammed Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur set to fly out to Australia

Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur are all set to fly to Australia on Thursday, October 13, to join the Indian T20I squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022, which is set to begin on October 16. The three pacers have been called to Australia, and one of them will fill in for the injured Jasprit Bumrah in the main roster.

Deepak Chahar, who had been named as a standby player for the marquee event, has also been ruled out owing to the back injury that he sustained during India’s recent T20I series against South Africa. Thus, Chahar will continue to remain at the NCA in Bengaluru to complete his rehab, and Thakur will join the squad instead.

Shreyas Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi, who had been named as standby will remain in India. Shami is the frontrunner to replace Bumrah and fill in the 15^th position in the Indian setup, but Siraj's impressive performance in the recent South Africa ODI series has kept him in the radar as well.

Shami will go through his final fitness test on Wednesday, October 12. Dr. Nitin Patel from the NCA will also be traveling to Australia alongside the three pacers. The ICC’s deadline, to name the final squad, is October 15^th and thus the management will have a day’s time to name Bumrah’s replacement after the three pacers land in Australia.

A tough competition between the pacers

Shami has been out of the Indian setup for quite some time owing to his injury concerns, and thus he was named as a reserve player when the BCCI announced the T20 World Cup squad. Siraj's performances in the recent past had not been convincing, but he was outstanding in the recently concluded ODI series against the Proteas and bagged the Player of the Series award as well.

Deepak Chahar had impressed everyone in the T20I series with both the bat and the ball, but his back injury made it difficult for him to aim for the World Cup spot. Thus, Shardul Thakur, who has been putting up some worthy performances of late, has been named Chahar’s replacement as the reserve player in the squad