Surprise, Drama and a lot of emotion - Mohammed Shami's last over against Australia in T20 World Cup warm-up

Mohammed Shami’s exclusion from the playing XI was indeed a major shock as team India backed Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh as their three pacers for the warm-up game against Australia. However, with 11 runs required from the last over, captain Rohit Sharma introduced Shami out of nowhere as the pacer crushed the Aussie batters with his accurate line and length to help India register a six-run win.

Shami, who didn’t play competitive cricket for some months, wasn’t originally picked for team India for the T20 World Cup. However, with Jasprit Bumrah’s unfortunate injury, the 32-year-old was handed the ticket to Australia and in his very first appearance, stunned the defending champions by giving just four runs and picking three wickets in the final over of the match.

Shami managed to nail his yorkers spot on during the final over that also included a stunning one-handed catch from Virat Kohli. Shami himself affected a run-out as well while also keeping the batters on the tenterhooks.

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Rohit Sharma’s surprise move of using Mohammed Shami in the final over will also assure India’s strength in the death overs. It is one such area where the Indian team suffered a lot in the recent past and with the introduction of Shami, the team now has a lot of variety in the mix. Rohit’s trust in him will also give the pacer a lot of confidence going into the T20 World Cup - a tournament India is eyeing to win for the second time in history.

KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering innings set the tone for team India

Slowly and steadily, KL Rahul is returning back to his absolute best as the 30-year-old smashed 57 off 33 balls to give India the perfect start against Australia. The innings perfectly suit Rohit Sharma’s vision of playing aggressive cricket as KL Rahul has done it for two matches in a row. Even though Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed to get going, Suryakumar Yadav once again stepped up to take team India to a match-winning total. With a strike rate of 151.52, the 32-year-old smashed 50 off 33 balls.

With the help of their innings, India posted a total of 186 runs in 20 overs. Despite Aaron Finch’s remarkable innings of 76 runs in 54 balls, the Aussies suffered a nail-biting defeat at the hands of India. Even though it’s just a warm-up game, a series defeat against England and then losing to India might shake their confidence before taking on New Zealand in the first game of the mega tournament.