Former Indian cricketer Chandu Borde is surprised by the exclusion of Mohammad Shami from India’s T20 World Cup squad. Borde feels Shami would have a force to reckon with for the opposition in the helpful Australian conditions.

Shami has all the experience under his belt and he is known to swing the ball in the PowerPlay overs. The ace paceman had a good run in the IPL as he had scalped 20 wickets in 16 matches for Gujarat Titans and had played a key role in taking Hardik Pandya-led team to glory.

However, Shami hasn’t received his opportunities for the national team in the shortest format of the game. The fast bowler had recently played in the ODI series against England. But Shami had last played in T20I cricket for India in the 2021 T20 World Cup.

Shami will be seen in action in the three-match T20I series against Australia and South Africa and he has been named in the stand-by players for the T20 World Cup.

“Well, the squad was announced and most of the players were the same as before, but what surprised me was the exclusion of Shami. Considering that the World Cup is in Australia, Shami could have been lethal with his pace and swing. I feel he should have benefitted the team a lot had he been chosen,” the former India all-rounder Chandu Borde told India TV.

Many cricket experts like Ravi Shastri and Dilip Vengsakar have shown surprise at the exclusion of Mohammad Shami in the T20 World Cup.

Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel, and Arshdeep Singh will constitute India’s pace battery for the T20 World Cup. Hardik Pandya will play the fifth bowler’s role in the team.

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

Standby players -Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.