In a late development, Mohammed Siraj has been appointed as the replacement for the injured Jasprit Bumrah in the Indian T20I team for the remaining series against South Africa. Siraj is set to join the squad in Guwahati ahead of the second T20I match on Saturday.
The decision to call up Siraj came after concerns about Bumrah’s lower back injury. Bumrah underwent scans in Bengaluru, and the medical staff at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) ultimately decided to include Siraj in the T20 World Cup squad.
Siraj’s last appearance in a T20I was against Sri Lanka in February. He is predominantly known as a red-ball bowler but recently showcased his talent in a match against Somerset, where he took a five-wicket haul.
So far, Siraj has played only five T20Is, but he has been effective, picking up wickets at an economy rate of 10.45. He has been a consistent performer for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League since 2020 and was retained by the team ahead of this year’s auction.
Siraj is not the only late addition to the squad. Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Umesh Yadav also joined the team just before the series opener. Iyer was called in to assist Deepak Hooda, who is currently under the care of the BCCI’s medical staff at the NCA. Umesh Yadav replaced Mohammed Shami, who is still recovering from Covid-19, and Shahbaz Ahmed stepped in for Hardik Pandya, who is undergoing conditioning-related work at the NCA.
After the Guwahati T20I on Sunday, the team will play the final match in Indore on Tuesday before departing for Australia. The World Cup-bound squad is expected to have a brief training camp in Brisbane. For the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, the selectors are likely to announce a second-string team, with Shikhar Dhawan leading the side.
The India squad for the second and third T20Is includes Rohit Sharma as captain, KL Rahul as vice-captain, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Umesh Yadav.
