“The player I would put in if Jasprit’s not available is Mohammed Siraj,” says Shane Watson
Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson feels Mohammed Siraj can replace Jasprit Bumrah in the India squad if the senior pacer is ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup through injury.
Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson feels Mohammed Siraj can replace Jasprit Bumrah in the India squad if the senior pacer is ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup through injury.
Bumrah missed the Asia Cup last month due to a back injury, which has also ruled him out of the ongoing T20I series against South Africa.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced that the star pacer is ruled out of the tournament and said a replacement would be announced “soon”.
Speaking in the latest episode of ICC Review, Watson said that if Bumrah is not available for the mega event, he would pick Siraj for the showpiece event Down Under.
Watson feels Siraj brings a lot of firepowers and offers pace and bounce, which will be crucial in Australian tracks.
“The player I would put in if Jasprit’s not available is Mohammed Siraj, because of the firepower he presents. Without Bumrah, that’s the one thing India won’t necessarily have, which is vital on Australian wickets on the bigger grounds with the pace and bounce. Siraj is great with the brand-new ball. He is fast, he swings the ball away but also his defensive skills are pretty good. And he’s got better over the last couple of years, with what we’ve seen in the IPL. So, for me he’s probably going to be the one who is going to have the most impact,”
Watson said.
However, Watson highlighted that Bumrah’s absence could hose India’s possibilities of lifting the T20 World Cup.
“Honestly, I think it’s going to have a huge impact on India’s chances of winning the T20 World Cup,”
he added.
The Upcoming T20 World Cup will be played in Australia, From October 16. The tournament high-octane clash between Pakistan and India will be played on October 23. The fans are eagerly waiting for the clash while all eyes will be on Babar Azam and Virat Kohli’s form.
India Squad for World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Standby Players: Mohammad Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.
Pakistan Squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Usman Qadir.
Standby Players: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani.