"5000 cases in India and he is one of them, really unfortunate"- Twitter reacts as Mohammed Shami tests positive for COVID ahead of comeback series against Australia

Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Australia because of a positive COVID-19 test. According to Cricbuzz, Shami has not reached Mohali for the first T20I against the Aussies, set to take place on September 20, and will miss the entire series.

Umesh Yadav is likely to replace Shami in the Indian squad for the upcoming home series. Interestingly, Umesh has not played a single T20I match for India since the home series against Australia in 2019.

Even Mohammed Shami was out of the Indian T20I squad for a long time. He was ignored for all the T20I series that India played after the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. However, he was recalled to the squad for the home series against Australia and South Africa.

BCCI also named him as one of the reserves for the T20 World Cup later this year. Unfortunately, the veteran pacer will have to wait a little longer before playing another T20I match for India.

Expectedly, Shami's misfortune elicited strong reactions of sympathy from fansd on social media. Here's how fans on Twitter reacted to the update:

🚨 JUST IN 🚨

According to reports, Mohammad Shami has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the upcoming T20I series against Australia.

#India #TeamIndia #INDvAUS #CricketTwitter https://t.co/UZxoI5q6Tx

Get well soon..so we are on the backfoot..already twitter.com/Sportskeeda/st…

@mufaddal_vohra 😭 Get well soon shami bhai @MdShami11

@mufaddal_vohra Get well soon champ ❤️ @MdShami11

@mufaddal_vohra Selectors right now - https://t.co/hMVOrTgNrX

@mufaddal_vohra All India me only 5k covid case hai 130 cr. me ...aur isi hona jaruri tha 🤦 https://t.co/1JahtKcdWo

Here are some of the Twitter reactions to Umesh Yadav's name coming up as a replacement for Mohammed Shami:

Umesh Yadav is fit now, after the poor performance in Asia Cup, selectors want experienced bowlers in the team. (Source - TOI)

My sources tell me that if an injured Umesh gets injured again, Ishant Sharma or Ashish Nehra can replace him

Umm, Umesh has played 7 T20Is, the last three and a half years ago.

Maybe they want IPL experience. Or Test or ODI experience. twitter.com/CricCrazyJohns…

To all those people who are laughing on this decision.
This was Umesh Yadav's stat in IPL 2022 :-

Wicket :- 16
Economy:- 7.06
(2nd best economy among Indian fast bowlers)
Avg :- 21.19 twitter.com/CricCrazyJohns…

Umesh Yadav went unsold in the 1st round of IPL 2022 Auctions. Now he's a part of India's T20 squad. Nice

Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav played together in ICC World Cup 2015 in Australia

It looks like the selectors want bowlers with experience of Australian conditions back in the squad. After the Asia Cup 2022 debacle, the national selectors must have spent a fair amount of time thinking about the team's bowling combination.

The returns of both Shami and Umesh Yadav hint that the selection committee is keen on having more experienced players in the squad. Both these fast bowlers were part of the Indian squad which made it to the semifinals of the ICC ODI World Cup in 2015.

It will be exciting to see how Umesh performs upon his return to the T20I squad. Not only does he have experience on his side but also the ability to bowl at high speeds. This might be another reason that selectors went for Umesh.