When Jasprit Bumrah was first ruled out, many thought that his loss could be Mohammed Shami’s gain. In fact, the second in command hadn’t even played a T20 match since 2021 November. But as things stand now, it seems Siraj is becoming the hot favorite in line to replace the 28-year-old for the T20 World Cup who was ruled out due to a back stress fracture.
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Unlike Shami, who hasn’t played much cricket, Siraj is constantly playing ODIs for India and has excelled in it. Even in the recently concluded ODI series against South Africa, he led the pace attack and came up with precise line and lengths.
For instance, in New Delhi during the final ODI, he went onto pick the prized wickets of Janneman Malan and Reeza Hendricks. All of this has convinced Sunil Gavaskar to pick the Hyderabad bowler much before Shami as far as the T20 World Cup squad is concerned.
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“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. 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," Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“No doubting his quality. Just the fact that he (Shami) has not played any cricket. It’s never easy to comeback 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," Gavaskar added.
Earlier Siraj had replaced Bumrah in the South Africa series as like for like replacement. There is still no confirmation on who would replace the pacer, but several media reports have claimed that Siraj might board the flight to Australia.
He had a good series against South Africa as he went onto pick a three-for in the second ODI which was followed by two wickets in Delhi. However, he went wicketless in the first ODI match.
“Performing against a good team gives you a lot of confidence. I had to take the responsibility. I try to figure out the right lengths at the start of the innings. As a fast bowler you need that fire and passion inside you. Happy with my performance, and happy to get this Player of the Series award," said Siraj in the post-match presentation ceremony.
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