The dismal performance of Indian pacers in the recent matches this month has really given a big headache for skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid.
The pacers have struggled throughout all three phases of the innings and this could even force the management and selectors to make a change to their T20 World Cup 15-man squad!
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2022:
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Reserves: Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar
So is it possible for India to make change(s) to the 15-man T20 World Cup squad? What does the ICC rule says?
Yes, it is possible and in the rules for any team to make changes to their squads and reserves that they have announced until the tournament kicks off. All 16 teams have already announced their squads for the T20 World Cup 2022 which will start in Australia on October 16.
These are considered as the preliminary squads and modifications can be made to squads until October 9, according to Hindustantimes. After the deadline, they would have to seek ICC’s permission to make amends in case of injuries.
Will Mohammed Shami be promoted to the main squad?
Mohammed Shami’s selection in the reserves was a bit surprising, given the pacer hasn’t played a single T20I since last year’s T20 World Cup. However, the selectors – and as skipper Rohit Sharma explained later on – have banked on his vast experience and his IPL 2022 form for the title-winners Gujarat Titans where Shami took 20 wickets and was a force to reckon with in the powerplay and in the middle-overs.
After looking at Indian pacers’ poor outings in the Asia Cup and then in the Australia series, many experts reckon Shami, who is in the reserves, could be promoted to the main 15-member squad to give the pace attack some more pace and experience than it does with the likes of Harshal Patel and Arshdeep Singh.
But, the latest problem that’s emerged is that Shami, who was set to return to the T20I side in the Australia and South Africa series has been down with covid for more than a week. He missed all three T20I vs Australia and is also unlikely to feature against South Africa; his replacement, Umesh Yadav, has continued with the team in Thiruvananthapuram where India play the Proteas on Wednesday.
