T20 World Cup 2022: "He has been bowling well" - Sunil Gavaskar picks Mohammed Siraj over Mohammed Shami as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement

Sunil Gavaskar has voted in favor of Mohammed Siraj ahead of Mohammed Shami as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement in India's T20 World Cup squad.

Bumrah was ruled out of the showpiece T20 event due to a back stress fracture. Shami and Deepak Chahar were initially part of the reserves but with the latter now ruled out, Siraj has joined the Bengal pacer in the race for Bumrah's replacement.

Throwing his insights about the ideal replacement while speaking on Star Sports, Gavaskar said:

“I’d go for Siraj because he has been bowling well; Shami has not played for a while. And to hit your steps straight away in a World Cup, yes, there are a couple of warm-up matches."

He added:

“As of now, nobody has been selected as the 15th player. I don’t know…has he gone with the team to Australia? He hasn’t gone. So he has played no cricket. And that’s a concern."

Siraj had a good outing in the recently concluded ODI series at home against South Africa. He picked up five wickets at a decent economy rate and won the 'Player of the Series' award.

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"It’s never easy to come back after COVID-19" - Sunil Gavaskar on Mohammed Shami

Shami has not played any competitive cricket since he tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the T20I series against South Africa in September. He joined the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for rehabilitation after he tested negative for the deadly virus.

Gavaskar reckoned that coming back from COVID-19 won't be easy for the Bengal cricketer. Justifying his decision to back Siraj, the former Indian captain said:

“No doubting his quality. Just the fact that he (Shami) has not played any cricket. It’s never easy to come back after Covid. Your stamina can be a little bit of suspect – I know it’s a four-over game in T20I cricket. But look at the way Siraj has been bowling. He’s bowling brilliantly."

India will play a few more warm-up games before their first T20 World Cup game against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on October 23.