Batting great Sachin Tendulkar feels that premier pacer Mohammed Shami is a good replacement for Jasprit Bumrah in India’s T20 World Cup squad. Bumrah sustained a back injury and was ruled out of India’s squad as the BCCI took their time to announce his replacement. The race for the spot was between Shami and Mohammed Siraj but being the more experienced the latter got the nod ahead of the RCB pacer.
Shami proved the selectors’ decision right with a match-winning final over against Australia in the warm-up match of the T20 World Cup. He defended 12 runs and claimed three wickets to silence his critics who were questioning his place in the squad.
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Shami, who last played a competitive game in July and landed here after suffering a long bout of COVID-19, turned up to bowl the last over of the game and made a decisive impact on the game.
He landed yorker after yorker and ended up with three wickets in the over besides a run-out.
Tendulkar suggested that Bumrah’s absence is a big loss for Team India but the replacement the selectors have chosen is the right one.
“Bumrah not being there is a big loss and we obviously needed a strike bowler. An out and out genuine fast bowler, who could attack batters and get wickets. Shami has proven that and he seems a good replacement," Tendulkar told PTI in an exclusive interview.
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The maestro seemed very impressed with young left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, who has shown a lot of heart in his short international career so far.
“Arshdeep has shown a lot of promise and he looks a balanced guy. And whatever I have seen of him, he looks a committed fellow because you can see a player, you can make out looking at his mindset," the legendary batter said.
He further heaped praises on Arshdeep for committing to his plan as he feels it’s important in T20s to back yourself when batters play some innovative shots.
“What I really like is that if Arshdeep has a plan, he commits to it and that is really, really important in this format as batters are going out and playing those extra shots and some innovative ones. So if you have a plan, commit to it," Tendulkar said.
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