Mohammed Shami’s experience helped him earn a place in India’s T20 World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured Jasprit Bumrah.

Though Shami was always the frontrunner to step into the space vacated by Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur were also in contention. But with the team management preferring someone who had experience of the Australian conditions, Shami, who has toured Down Under multiple times, stood out.

“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Mohammed Shami as Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement in India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad. Shami has reached Australia and will link up with the squad in Brisbane ahead of the warm-up matches,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah was quoted as saying in a media release.

Siraj and Shardul have been named as backups and will travel to Australia shortly.

Shami has been out of action for almost three months. Though he was picked in the squads for the home series against Australia and South Africa, he missed out after testing positive for Covid-19.

Shami’s last appearance in T20Is for India was at last year’s World Cup. He, however, had a good IPL outing, finishing as the top wicket-taker (20) for debutants and champions Gujarat Titans.

In the IPL, Shami emerged as a good Powerplay bowler, picking up 11 wickets in that phase at an economy of 6.62.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel are the other pacers in the India squad, with all-rounder Hardik Pandya also being an option.

After Bumrah was ruled out of competitive cricket for an indefinite period due to a stress-related back injury, Deepak Chahar was considered a good replacement. But Chahar himself is struggling with a troublesome back and is currently at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.