‘He can always step up and do a good job for India,’ says Saba Karim of Mohammed Shami as Jasprit Bumrah’s ideal replacement for the T20 World Cup. Saba Karim has explained why Mohammed Shami is a possible replacement for Jasprit Bumrah in the T20 World Cup.
Former India selector Saba Karim believes senior pacer Mohammed Shami is a viable option to replace Jasprit Bumrah in the upcoming T20 World Cup after the latter is rule out by a back stress fracture. Shami named to India’s 15-man squad as a standby player for the showpiece event.
At the same time, Karim made it clear that Jasprit Bumrah’s absence will be felt by the Men in Blue because he is a one-of-a-kind bowler with the ability to strike with the new ball as well as be very effective at the death. Last week, the premier pacer played two T20Is against Australia.
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You’ll need someone at the top to pick your wickets: Saba Karim
“Yes, he’s such a unique bowler. In the T20 format, you need someone who can bowl with the new ball and pick wickets and then can come back to finish his spell in the death overs. He’s extremely effective and plus his match awareness, he’s kind of part of the leadership group for the national side now. So yes, I think without him this will be a massive blow for India. But you know one can sense that the Indian team management and the Indian captain were kind of preparing for this. That’s why they thought of bringing in Mohammed Shami and they also have Deepak Chahar on stand-by. So, I think it’s good in a way that India played all these bilateral engagements without Jasprit Bumrah in the line-up.”
Saba Karim while speaking on SPORTS18’s daily sports news
Shami had a very successful IPL 2022 season
“I’ll go with Mohammed Shami because, even though he hasn’t played, he’s the type of bowler who, when given the chance, can always step up and do the job for India.” Plus, with this level of experience, you need someone at the top who can pick up wickets, and you’ve seen Mohammed Shami in the last Indian T20 league; he’s the type of bowler who can pick up wickets with the new ball in the power play, which India desperately needs. So, if Mohammed Shami can pick up early wickets with the new ball, that’s the kind of start India needs when defending the target or attempting to prevent the opposition from setting a huge target,” he added.
Shami had a very successful IPL 2022 season, finishing with 20 wickets from 16 matches at an average of 24.40 and an economy of eight for the new entrants Gujarat Titans, who went on to win their first title. Despite this, he was not in the Indian team management and selectors’ plans for T20Is following, and he has not appeared in the same format since last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE.
His comeback was hampered after he tested positive for COVID-19 during the home series against Australia, and with a negative test report, it is unclear whether the seasoned speedster will play in the next two T20Is against South Africa.
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