"Mohammed Siraj has been robbed" - Fans with mixed reactions as Mohammed Shami replaces Jasprit Bumrah in India's T20 World Cup squad
Team India, as expected, have named Mohammed Shami as the replacement for the injured Jasprit Bumrah in their T20 World Cup squad. The BCCI took to their Twitter handle on Friday to confirm that Shami will join the 15-member squad and will be available for the warm-up games in Brisbane.
Bumrah's injury was a huge blow to India's hopes, but Mohammed Shami was touted to be the front-runner to replace him as the team management wanted someone with the experience of bowling in Australian conditions. Fans on Twitter were a bit relieved to have that experience in the pace attack now.
However, some other fans also questioned the decision. They felt that someone like Mohammed Siraj would have been a better option since he is in great bowling form. Here are some of the reactions:
Shami might not be the best-choice replacement for Bumrah but now that he’s confirmed to be in the team, would love to see him put together an amazing World Cup performance. #FavouriteIndianBowler.
batting me no. 7 pe axar aa ja raha hai. bowling me death overs me shami,harshal,bhuvi aur 1-2 arshdeep ke hai
HARI OM WORLD CUP
NEWS 
Such a clown selection panel..selecting a player played last match in July & last t20i in November 2021🤣
No performance only vibes will be the reason for another early exit or choking in those crunch moments twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Knew it when Dravid & Rohit mentioned that they need someone experienced as Bumrah will be missing the T20 World Cup. All the best Lala @MdShami11
#BCCI #TeamIndia #T20WorldCup twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
People are crying under this 🤣. It was confirmed that Shami will be included as soon as he passes the fitness test. twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
India have replaced Bumrah’s pace rather than his role.
Arshdeep Singh will lead at the death. Yuzi Chahal, Axar Patel/R Ashwin & Hardik Pandya have the top & middle.
So it’s two of Shami, Bhuvi Kumar (both best in the Powerplay) & Harshal Patel (middle & death).
#T20WorldCup twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Shami played his last game 3 months ago. He played last t20i game for india in 2021 world Cup. He played last t20 game six month ago in IPL final. Nothing suggests that he is good t20 bowler. This obsession with experience will cost us another trophy twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Mohammad Siraj has been robbed of a place in the world cup thanks to "experienced" Shami.
Wanted Shami in the squad, didn’t know it would happen in this manner🫠 #T20WorldCup twitter.com/criccrazyjohns… https://t.co/4B80WLo6L0
🏽I feel for Siraj. I really do.
Shami will never give you what Siraj gives you in this format. Also, he hasn't played much in recent months.
What on earth are the selectors smoking?
This is a selection blunder, IMO.
I will be more than happy to be proven wrong. 🙏🏽
#T20WC2022 twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Just after 2 matches bowling in ODIs at death,people are thinking Siraj to be some great death bowler and perfect replacement for Bumrah and dissing Shami selection .
Their stats since Jan 1 2020 at death (16-20)
Shami 34 match 31 wicket Eco 10.6 Siraj 29 match 9 wickets Eco 10.3
From being told by the management that he's not being considered for selection in T20Is to being announced as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement without playing a single T20I.
Proper wild card entry for Mohammed Shami.
Tweets Loading on 24Oct #Istandwithshami 🤣🤣
Played Last Year T20Wc with Sympathy Quota. 0 perfomance in that Wc.
Shardul Thakur Way Better option than Shami in T20s.Siraj Too. twitter.com/BCCI/status/15…
Looks like the management were keen on Shami. If it was that way, can't be blaming the selectors here. I would have preferred Siraj tbh. (Yes based on recent performances but also that he has better skills to pull off bowling at the end than any other option we have as of now) twitter.com/CSKian716/stat…
@gurkiratsgill Same here .Shami is a terrible t20 bowler.. everytime we go back to Shami makes me think that we are going backwards
Just a reminder… Shami has T20I economy of 9.55, hasn’t played T20Is since last WC where India was embarrassingly knocked out.
AND he wasn’t in contention until after Asia Cup (after India was knocked out) when a commentator wondered on air: “Hey, why doesn’t India play Shami?”
Shami is coming out of the cold. Without any game time. Surely those factors would have made you think that Siraj would have been the better pick. But as I said before looks like the management were keen on Shami & got what they wanted. #T20WorldCup
Mohammed Shami's new-ball impact could make him lethal against Pakistan
Siraj was the Player of the Series in the ODIs against South Africa and looked to be having the edge over Shami when it came to selection in the main squad. However, he and Shardul Thakur have been named in the reserve players for now.
Shami's new-ball exploits have almost made him stand apart from his competitors, despite having not played competitive cricket since July. The Gujarat Titans pacer almost had too much to handle with the new ball and it helped them bag their maiden IPL title.
Given that Pakistan look highly dependent on their openers Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, if Shami can knock off both or at least one of them early, it could trigger panic in their camp.
India squad for the 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, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami.