Umesh Yadav replaces Mohammed Shami in Indian squad

Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami is likely to be back for South Africa series. File photo: IANS

The seasoned Umesh Yadav was on Sunday drafted into the Indian team as veteran seamer Mohammed Shami's replacement for the three-match T20I series against Australia.

Shami was ruled out of the series, starting on Tuesday, late on Saturday night after he had tested positive for COVID-19.

"Fast bowler Mohammed Shami will not be able to take part in the upcoming three-day Mastercard T20I series against Australia after testing positive for COVID-19. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Umesh Yadav as his replacement," the BCCI said in a statement.

The BCCI also said that pacer Navdeep Saini has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match one-day series between India 'A' and New Zealand 'A' after sustaining a right groin injury on the first day of the ongoing Duleep Trophy semifinal match between North Zone and South Zone.

Rishi Dhawan has been named as Saini's replacement in the India 'A' squad.

Umesh, who played the last of his seven T20Is in 2019 against Australia, was back in the scheme of things after recovering from a quadriceps injury he suffered during his county stint in England.

The 35-year-old's comeback is nothing short of fairy tale in this format as his county stint with MIddlesex was cut short by a quadriceps injury.

He had a terrific first leg of IPL 2022 for Kolkata Knight Riders when he swung the ball at a great pace.

For Middlesex, he had a fantastic Royal London Cup in which he took 16 wickets in 7 List A games including a five-wicket and a four-wicket haul.

India squad for Australia series: Rohit Sharma (capta), K L Rahul (vice-capt, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.

India 'A' squad: Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Rajat Patidar, Sanju Samson (capt, KS Bharat (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Shabhaz Ahmed, Rahul Chahar, Tilak Varma, Kuldeep Sen, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Rishi Dhawan, Raj Angad Bawa.

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