Losing Jasprit Bumrah for T20 World Cup will be a massive blow, but Mohammed Shami can always step up: Saba Karim

Since Thursday, there have been reports of Bumrah likely to miss out on playing the T20 World Cup due to a back injury. On Friday, he was replaced by fellow pacer Mohammed Siraj for the remainder of the T20I series against South Africa, which further raised doubts over Bumrah's availability for the mega event. Shami, included as a travelling reserve for the T20 World Cup, hadn't featured in T20Is against Australia and currently against South Africa due to a positive Covid-19 test, which has since then returned a negative result on re-testing after a period of 10 days.

Read AlsoIndia vs South Africa: Mohammed Siraj replaces injured Jasprit Bumrah for remainder of T20I series against South Africa

Mohammed Siraj on Friday replaced injured pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for India's remaining two T20I matches against the visiting South African team. Bumrah was on Thursday ruled out of the upcoming T20 World Cup due to a back stress fracture. "The All-India Senior Selection Committee named Siraj

The right-arm pacer hadn't played international cricket since July this year and didn't feature in T20Is since last year's T20 World Cup in the UAE. "I'll go ahead with Mohammed Shami because he will find form. Although he hasn't played, he's that kind of bowler who, once given an opportunity, can always step up and do the job for India. Plus, with this kind of experience, you need somebody at the top who can pick you wickets and you've seen Mohammed Shami in the last (2022) Indian Premier League," said Karim on 'Sports Over The Top' show on Sports18. "He's such a bowler who can pick wickets with the new ball in the powerplay, and India needs that. So if Mohammed Shami can pick up early wickets with the new ball, that's the kind of