Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj Added To India’s T20 World Cup Squad As Travelling Reserves – Reports

New Delhi: Fast bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Umran Malik will travel to Australia with the Indian contingent on October 6 for the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup, as per reports.

With uncertainty over injured Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the mega event, Indian team management is set to carry at least two additional fast bowlers as back-up for the premier pacer and net bowlers in the preparatory phase of the tournament.

Siraj and Umran will travel with the squad to Perth on October 6, where the Indian team will train for a week before travelling to Brisbane for its first warm-up match on October 17, a Sportstar report said.

The report further said Bumrah has been diagnosed with a stress reaction and the team management is not sure whether he can be stretched throughout the marquee event. It has been learnt that there is a consensus over stretching the decision on the future of pacer till the very last moment of the deadline.

As of now, Bumrah is in a race against time with the India squad departing for Australia on October 6 to prepare for the T20 World Cup.

They will be in Perth until October 13 before heading to Brisbane where they are scheduled to play two practice matches against Australia and New Zealand on October 17 and 19 before moving to Melbourne to play their tournament opener against Pakistan on October 23.

Meanwhile, there have been calls to include Umran Malik in the Indian team for T20 World Cup as Jasprit Bumrah’s replacement. Experts believe that Umran’s express pace will be handy in Australian conditions. Umran came into limelight after a decent outing in IPL 2022 where he took 22 wickets in 14 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad.