India keep a wary eye on Shami's fitness

India head coach Rahul Dravid said that seamer Mohammed Shami's recovery from COVID-19 is being monitored by the team management, as they look to replace the injured Jasprit Bumrah, ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup.

On Monday, the BCCI confirmed that pace spearhead Bumrah had been ruled out due to a back injury, delivering a huge blow to the team, who are already missing injured all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

Shami, Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Siraj are seen as the frontrunners to replace Bumrah. While Siraj and Chahar were part of India's 2-1 T20 series win over South Africa, Shami has been out of action after failing to recover in time from COVID.

"Shami obviously is someone who is on standby, but unfortunately for us, he couldn't play this (South Africa) series, which would have been ideal from that perspective," Dravid told reporters on Tuesday.

Shami is recovering at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. The Indian team management and selectors have till October 15th, to name Bumrah's replacement.

Captain Rohit Sharma said the team would be looking at players with prior experience of bowling in Australia, where the World Cup begins on October 16.