The Indian Cricket Team squad for upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 has been announced by the selectors. The 15-member squad is looking quite strong both from inside and outside as it has been filled with plenty of talented players. As expected, several notable names were missing from the Indian squad. One of the most shocking omission from the Indian squad is of veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami. Fans expected to see his name in the squad because he has been a regular name in the bowling lineup of Indian Cricket Team. Due to his talent, his fans think that Shami should have been included in the Indian team for T20 World Cup 2022. Let’s see Why Mohammed Shami is not selected in India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2022?
India squad for ICC T20 World Cup
Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
Standby players – Mohd. Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.
Why Mohammed Shami is not selected in India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2022?
The backbone of India’s bowling attack Jasprit Bumrah and the slow ball specialist Harshal Patel ruled out of Asia Cup due to injuries. Both of them have now recovered and returned to the India’s squad. Therefore, Shami was not selected in the Indian squad for T20 World Cup 2022.
The reason behind Shami’s non-selection in T20 World Cup is that the veteran fast bowler has already been told by the BCCI selection committee that he would not be considered for selection in India’s T20 team. He is not in plans for T20s and the focus will be on youngsters. The motive behind such a decision is to deal with the players’ workload. However, he will remain a regular figure in India’s Test and ODI teams.
The last appearance of Mohammed Shami for India in the shortest format came at the T20 World Cup 2021. After the conclusion of that tournament, India didn’t even consider Shami for T20Is. The selectors gave chances to Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik and Shardul Thakur as pace options in T20Is. So it was quite clear that Shami is not included in their plans for the shortest format.
The case of Shami is similar to that of opening batter Shikhar Dhawan. However, Dhawan has been fazed out of both Tests and T20Is by the selectors but remains a vital cog in the team’s ODI setup.
There is no doubt that Mohammed Shami has been a veteran of the game for India and has immense experience but it is also true that his T20I career hasn’t been as impressive as his Tests and ODIs numbers. He has played a total of 17 T20Is for Indian team in which he picked 18 wickets at an average of 31.55 and economy rate of 9.54.
Even his IPL stats are not that impressive. Since the 2018 season, he has been unable to leave a mark in Indian Premier League. Though Shami presented his claim in the T20 team by being the leading wicket-taker of Gujarat Titans with 20 wickets at an economy rate of 8), but it was too late. Till that time, the selectors have already moved on from him.
