"Haven’t seen Shami as yet, but already have my XI for Pakistan match"- Rohit Sharma indicates Md. Shami's availability for 1st game

India has shown some good form in the recent home series against Australia and South Africa, after a horrible Asia Cup campaign. Now they are in Australia to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Hence, they are scheduled to play four warm-up games.

However, India has had a mixed performance so far, with one win and a loss against Western Australia in the first two games, and now they will play Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and 19, respectively. The most important announcement was made by the BCCI on Friday, that it will be Mohammed Shami who will replace Jasprit Bumrah.

But the biggest question is whether Shami is match fit or not. Notably, the pacer is coming off a recovery from COVID-19 and hasn't played a competitive game since the last two months. Although he will play the two remaining warm-up games, his place in the playing XI against Pakistan on October 23 is still a question mark.

During the latest ICC press conference ahead of the start of the tournament, the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma, also made a bold statement, indicating the place of Shami for the first match against Pakistan.

Rohit said that he doesn't prefer any kind of last-minute decisions or changes, but rather they inform the players about their selection prior to the match so that they can prepare themselves for the match. He also said that he already had his playing XI that will play against Pakistan and had informed the players as well.

Rohit said, "I already have my XI for the Pakistan match. Already, those players are informed. I don’t believe in a last-minute thing. I want them to prepare well. I haven’t seen Shami as yet. But I am hearing good things about him. I will gauge him during the practice in Brisbane tomorrow."

The biggest clash of the T20 World Cup 2022 will be played on Sunday (October 23) between India and Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It will be a full house during the match, and over 100,000 spectators are expected to witness the game live from the stadium.

The Indian captain is also hopeful of performing well against Pakistan in their first match, but he also reckons that there is no need to talk about the match all the time. On the other hand, Rohit also talked about the evolution of the game.

He said that earlier, when he played in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, teams often tended to get to 140-150, but nowadays, teams reach this score in 14-to-15 overs. On the other hand, the skipper also highlighted that the team will miss the services of Jasprit Bumrah in the competition.

He stated that injuries are part and parcel of the game and none can avoid them, but the management has given chances to other players as well to make a strong backup and whoever is in the team has played a number of games and knows how to deal with the pressure.