T20 World Cup: Choosing Shami as Bumrah's replacement was a right choice, says Rohit

India captain Rohit Sharma has said the inclusion of Mohammed Shami as Jasprit Bumrah's replacement was the right choice ahead of their T20 World Cup 2022 campaign opener.

Ahead of the T20 World Cup, India suffered a massive setback when their ace pacer Bumrah suffered a back injury and was ruled out of the tournament.

India are set to face off against Pakistan in their Super 12 fixture on Sunday (Oct. 23) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

"Speaking of Shami, I think just speaking about him first, I think the guy has got so much experience playing for so many years for India and has played World Cup, as well, before. We all know the quality that he has. When Bumrah got injured, we always wanted to have someone experienced in the lineup, and Shami was the right choice for us.

"Looking at what has happened with him in the last 20, 25 days, obviously he got COVID back home, had to miss the home series that we played leading up to the World Cup, but again, with the kind of experience that he has, we know that he will not be short of match practice," Rohit said in a press conference on Saturday.

In the warm-up game against Australia at The Gabba, Brisbane, Shami picked up two wickets and enforced a run-out in the final over to hand India a close six-run victory.

"Obviously speaking of the game against Australia, that first warmup game, that was always the plan. We know he's very good with the new ball, so we just wanted to give him a bit of a challenge to come and bowl at the death and see what he can do.

"Most importantly, his body was something that we had to look at because he just recovered from COVID, and we wanted to give him enough time, and we wanted to play him in the next warmup game full of 20 overs, but unfortunately it was tough," added Rohit in the same conference.

In regards to Shami's preparation, Rohit is confident the fast bowler is well prepared for the tournament.

"We didn't get a chance to play him there, but in terms of preparation, I think he's very well prepared. He's been training with the team for a while now. He came to Brisbane quite early and had a few sessions with the entire team. In terms of his readiness, I think he is very much ready, and it's just about going out and now executing what Shami is known for," said Rohit.

Rohit has also said that the first round of the World Cup is proof that no team can be taken lightly in the tournament.

"In a World Cup, I don't think you can underestimate any team, as you've seen in the qualifiers, as well. You've just got to be coming on that particular day with very well-prepared thinking about how you're going to beat that opposition and try and keep it simple really, not think about so many things because it can only add pressure, or it can confuse you a little bit.

"I think the more you keep things simpler, the easier for you to go and get the job done. That is what our focus has been and constant talk about how we can just relax a little bit and not worry about, oh, okay, nine years we have not won the ICC trophy and things like that. Of course, it's there in the back of our players' minds, but it's important to just keep that away and just focus on the job at hand at the moment because it's my personal belief that if you think too much of the past, I think you won't be able to focus on the present. It's important to focus on the present," the Indian captain said further.

IND vs PAK: Pakistan have been good, we know their brand of cricket, says Rohit

Last year, Pakistan's 10-wicket win over India marked the former's first-ever victory in a World Cup game against the Indians. However, Rohit does not believe that will add any pressure ahead of Sunday's game at MCG.

"I don't want to use the word "pressure" because the pressure is constant. It's not going to change ever. I would like to take this as a challenge. I want to use that word "challenge" a little more. This Pakistani team is a very challenging team. All the Pakistani teams that I've played against from 2007 until 2022, they've been good teams.

"It's just that I believe on that particular day kind of a thing. On that particular day, if you're good enough, you'll beat any opposition, and on that day, you are good, you'll take the win and you'll go home. That is what has happened in the last so many years," Rohit, who will be leading India for the first time in a World Cup, said.

"Pakistan have been good in the last World Cup. They beat us. They were good in Asia Cup. We were good, too, but we won the first game and they won the second one. But unfortunately, we were out of the Asia Cup because the important games that we didn't win made us see out of the tournament. But yeah, look, they've been playing good cricket of late, and you know their brand of cricket. Luckily for us, we got to play them in Asia Cup twice, otherwise, we don't play them at all.

"So it's very hard to gauge what sort of mindset they play with, and for those two games that we played in Asia Cup, obviously there were a few guys missing from their squad and from our squad, as well, so it's important to understand -- we've got to understand what is their strength, what is their weakness, so we've tried speaking about those kinds of things," Rohit concluded.