"Arshdeep Singh has arguably been the find of the tournament" - Mohammad Kaif on Team India's T20 World Cup 2022 campaign so far
Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif has been highly impressed with Team India's performance in the ongoing T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue won four games in the Super 12s stage and also ended up in the top spot in Group 2.
There were quite a few doubts about how the bowling line-up will fare in Jasprit Bumrah's absence. However, Mohammad Kaif credited the Mohammed Shami for performing superbly in his return to the T20I team. He also feels young Arshdeep Singh has been the star of their campaign so far.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, here's what Mohammad Kaif had to say about India's performances so far:
"Bhuvneshwar Kumar has set the tone nicely with a maiden or even a wicket maiden over upfront. Arshdeep Singh has arguably been the find of the tournament for India. Shami has a new role as he often bowls with the new ball. But even he has done well as a first-change bowler."
Kaif also praised the top-order batters, saying:
"Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli and now even KL Rahul have found form. So things are looking really promising."
Mohammad Kaif on Mohammad Shami's comeback into the Indian T20I side
Quite a few eyebrows were raised when Mohammed Shami was named as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement in India's T20 World Cup squad. Shami hadn't played a single T20I since last year's T20 World Cup. He also did not play any competitive cricket since July and that made many doubt his impact in the showpiece event.
However, Shami has been excellent so far, having picked up six wickets from five games at a fantastic economy rate of 6.11. On this, Mohammad Kaif stated:
"This is what experience does. Shami has played a lot of cricket in Australia and even though he wasn't in a match rhythm, he had an idea of the right lengths that needed to be hit on these pitches."
Onto the semis 🇮🇳
Adelaide, here we come #TeamIndia #mdshami
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Kaif also shed light on how Shami adapted to the role of a first-change bowler despite being a new-ball specialist for his Indian Premier League team. He added:
"Arshdeep and Bhuvi gre swing bowlers so they get the new ball. Shami here is doing Bumrah's role. Bumrah used to bowl the fourth or fifth over for Mumbai Indians while Shami used to open the bowling for Gujarat Titans.
"He [Shami] has done really well in adapting to his role as a first-change bowler."
India's bowling will definitely be tested against a strong England batting line-up and short square boundaries at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday (November 10).