Rohit Sharma reveals the reason why he gave the 20th over to Mohammed Shami to bowl vs AUS

When everyone was thinking about who would replace Jasprit Bumrah for the Indian team in the T20 World Cup, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami delivered one of the best performances one can ever see while defending the target. Notably, Shami was playing a T20 game for India for the first time since the last T20 World Cup.

And what better way to announce his return and prove his worth as an ideal replacement for the injured Bumrah? Shami came out to bowl the 20th over when Australia needed 10 runs off 6 balls, with 4 wickets in hand.

From there, he just changed the complexity of the game in favour of India. Despite conceding four runs off the first two balls, he bowled four good balls to take four consecutive wickets, including a run out.

That 20th over became the turning point of the match. Even the Indian skipper couldn't stop himself from praising the veteran pacer for delivering such a special performance, that too in the last over. However, the decision to bring in Shami to bowl the last over came as a surprise and shock to many.

Everyone was shocked because the pacer didn't feature in the two practise games for India against Western Australia prior to this game. He didn't bowl till the very last over of the match against Australia. But he didn't disappoint the decision of Rohit and won the match for India. After the match, the Indian skipper opened up on the reason for bringing in Shami to bowl the last over.

He said, "He (Shami) is coming back after a long time, so we wanted to give him an over. Wanted to give him a challenge and let him bowl the final over, and you saw what he did."

Well, in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, a lot will depend on Shami. He will surely be the spearhead for the Indian team going into the T20 World Cup, and India will need him to use his experience and deliver some consistent performances in the upcoming tournament.