India will enter the final leg of their T20 World Cup preparations against South Africa without the services of experienced seamer Mohammad Shami and their middle-order player Deepak Hooda. The two cricketers have been ruled out of the three-match series, starting September 28.
While Shami stays sidelined because of the positive coronavirus test he gave ahead of the T20Is versus Australia, Hooda has been ruled out of the South African clash with back spasms. Shami needs more time to recover from his bout with the contagious virus, with the selectors in no mood to take a risk on one of their premier fast-bowlers.
Both him and Hooda, whose back injury spoils some of India’s plans for the South African series, have not travelled with the Indian team to Thiruvananthapuram, the venue for the first T20I on Wednesday.
There has been no official word on Shami and Hooda from the BCCI but ESPNcricinfo reported, “allrounder Shahbaz Ahmed and batter Shreyas Iyer have been drafted into the squad, although it is not yet known if they are replacement players or just reserves.”
India were due to trial out Shami during this set of home T20Is just prior to the T20 World Cup after naming him in the reserves for the marquee tournament Down Under.
The veteran right-arm seamer, who last played a T20I match at the end of India’s disappointing Super 12 exit from the last year’s T20 World Cup, was presumably redrafted in the side as the think-tank wants to beef up their powerplay options. Why, once he went down with Covid-19, they recalled Umesh Yadav as his replacement.
Yadav, who is now primed to fill the Shami gap for the South Africa T20Is also, played only one game in the Australia series but has been a bowler with a healthy powerplay record in the IPL. He has taken 53 wickets in the field-restriction phase in his IPL career at 7.53 an over, averaging a respectable 29.84.
Hooda, part of India’s squads on various occasions, got the chance to make his debut this year only. Considered ripe for a utility role in the middle-order, Hooda, who can provide useful overs of off-spin, made 451 runs in IPL 2022 for Lucknow Super Giants at a strike-rate of 136.66 while averaging 32.21 from his 14 innings.
He made these runs batting at No.3-4 for LSG. The problem with him for the Indian think-tank has been a firmed-up top order, which means no option but to bat him down in the line-up. He batted at No.7 in Asia Cup and failed before finding himself on the bench for the Australia series. It is learnt that the back spasm kicked in ahead of the final T20I in Hyderabad, for which the T20 World Cup incumbent was unavailable for selection.
With premier fast-bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya rested for the South Africa T20Is, the reported choice of replacing Hooda with spin allrounder Shahbaz has come as a surprise. Shahbaz had a strong Ranji Trophy season under his belt for Bengal but has a middling record in what would be his required role with the Indian team down the order. Although the cricketer has an ER of 7.24 from his 56 domestic T20s, his strike-rate with the bat is just 118.79, with only around 13 balls faced on average per innings.
Another player set to enter the squad is Iyer, who is in the World Cup reserves. The right-hander has played 46 T20Is for India with a strike-rate of 136.65 while averaging 33.19. But doubts persist over his ability to handle the pace and bounce heading to a trip to Australia, conditions for which many feel Sanju Samson would’ve been the more ideal fit. From the beginning of IPL 2020, the Rajasthan Royals player has a middle-overs SR of 156.27 versus pace.
