T20 World Cup 2022: "Makes perfect sense" - Aakash Chopra on Mohammed Shami replacing injured Jasprit Bumrah

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes Team India made the right decision by naming Mohammed Shami as the replacement for the injured Jasprit Bumrah for the T20 World Cup 2022.

While some eyebrows have been raised on Shami's selection as he hasn't played a single T20I since last year's T20 World Cup, Aakash Chopra said on social media that it made "perfect sense."

He opined that the decision to select Shami wasn't baffling, but to not give him even a single game in this format over the past 12 months, even when he was fit, is something that can be debated.

Chopra tweeted:

"Shami to replace Bumrah. Makes perfect sense. What doesn’t make sense is the fact that he hasn’t played a single T20i since the last World Cup. And that’s got nothing to do with his fitness. He was always available…"

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Mohammed Shami set to join Team India in Brisbane

The BCCI took to their Twitter account on Friday to announce the change in their squad. They also added that Shami will join the team in Brisbane, while the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur will be added to the reserves. The media release read:

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

India squad for the ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.

Standby players: Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur