Senior Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami will miss the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh as the pacer has been ruled out due to a shoulder injury, confirmed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday.
“Fast bowler Mohd. Shami sustained a shoulder injury during a training session in the lead up to the ODI series against Bangladesh. He is currently under the supervision of the BCCI Medical Team at the NCA, Bengaluru and will not be able to take part in the three-match series,” read a BCCI release.
BCCI also named young fast bowler Umran Malik as a replacement for Shami in the ODI squad. Notably, Malik, who impressed on a New Zealand tour recently, was not in India’s original squad.
“The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Umran Malik as Shami’s replacement,” the release added.
If Shami stays unfit for long, then skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid would be really worried, as, after the ODI leg, both sides will lock horns in the Test series, and India need to do well to stay in contention for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval in June.
India have some options to replace Shami in the red-ball fixtures in the form of Navdeep Saini and Mukesh Kumar. In the first 4-day game against Bangladesh A, Saini picked up four wickets, and Mukesh took three scalps. While Saini has played two Tests for Team India, Mukesh is still uncapped internationally.
Team India’s squad for Bangladesh ODIs (Updated):
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik