3 Reasons Why Mohammed Shami Was Not Included In India Squad For T20 World Cup 2022

The BCCI selection committee announced India’s T20 World Cup 2022 squad on Monday, September 12. Rohit Sharma will lead the 15-member side with Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah back on the side.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami, who was in the man squad in India’s last T20 World Cup squad is among the reserves in the 2022 World Cup squad. The T20 World Cup will be hosted by Australia who is the defending champions of the tournament.

However, Mohammed Shami is included in the main squad that has been named for the home T20I series against South Africa and Australia in the build-up to the World Cup. There are other nominal omissions, but Shami not being in the main squad is the biggest news concerning India’s T20 World Cup squad.

Interestingly, Shami played his last T20I for India in the T20 World Cup 2021 against Namibia. His last Test and ODI game was against England when India toured the country earlier this year.

Shami has been out of international cricket since the English tour and is now among the reserves in India’s World Cup squad. The selectors decided to go with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh as the seam options along with Bumrah and Harshal. In this article, we pinpoint three key reasons why Shami was not included in India’s main squad for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.

3 Reasons Why Mohammed Shami Was Not Included In India Squad For T20 World Cup 2022

1) Not Too Much Of Cricket Behind

As mentioned above, Shami last played international cricket for India back in July and since then has been away from the game. Before taking a break from the game, Shami took 20 wickets in IPL 2022.

Lack of cricket might have prompted the selectors to not include him in the main squad. However, he will be able to play if any of the regular bowlers gets injured and misses the campaign. Shami played his last T20I for India in the last T20 World Cup. Since then, he has not been considered for T20Is.

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2) High Economy Rate In T20Is

Shami has an economy rate of 9.55 in T20Is. For an experienced bowler like him, an economy rate of close to 10 is a very big disadvantage. He is good at taking wickets with the new ball but is expensive at the death much like Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Thus the management wanted to avoid having two bowlers with almost similar qualities in Bhuvneshwar and Shami.

3) Need For Specialist Death Bowlers

The management wanted to balance out the bowling attack with equal potency in new-ball bowlers and death bowlers. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar fulfils the role of a new ball bowler more than enough. India in the past has been expensive in the death overs. Thus by including Bumrah and Harshal, they have tried to address the problem.

Arshdeep Singh has also shown immense potential while bowling in the death. Games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup are evident examples of the same. having Bumrah and Harshal for the backend will allow the captain to use Arshdeep for two overs at the start along with Bhuvi.

Also Read: 3 Indian Players Who Will Be X-Factors For The Team In ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022