India will not b sending a 15th player to the World Cup
The India team will depart for the T20 World Cup in Australia in less than 24 hours with roughly 18 players on board, but without the squad’s official 15th member. The selection of a substitute for Jasprit Bumrah, who was just disqualified from the competition, will be delayed by the national selectors and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The predicament resulted from questions around Mohammed Shami’s fitness as Bumrah’s replacement. The BCCI, the selectors, and the team management have decided to keep an eye on the seasoned pacer’s recuperation from a bout of the Covid-19 virus, according to information gathered by Cricbuzz.
Although Shami recently showed signs of increased fitness in the nets, the parties concerned want to make sure he will be prepared for the competition from October 16 to November 13. The pacer is now required to go to Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy (NCA).
It goes without saying that before a decision is taken, the NCA’s medical staff will evaluate his fitness and communicate their findings to the BCCI. According to information obtained by the BCCI, the whole team must be disclosed by October 15 in accordance with ICC regulations. If Shami is deemed healthy, the seasoned pacer would subsequently go to Australia to join the Indian team. On October 23 at the MCG, India will play Pakistan in their opening World Cup match.
Mohammed Siraj and Deepak Chahar will take over if Shami unavoidably is unable to meet the required fitness requirements. The selectors will have the chance to examine both of them over the three ODI games against the visiting South Africa team over the course of the following seven days before selecting one of them. Siraj and Chahar, who both played in the three-match T20 series, have been selected for the Shikhar Dhawan-led 16-person squad. The selectors would have like Shami to play in the ODIs as well, but because to his Covid problem, that did not happen.
