Former India batter overlooks Mohammed Shami; names his top 3 seam picks for T20 World Cup

The recently-concluded five-match T20I series against South Africa saw a number of players cementing their spot for the flight to Australia with their performance.

With the T20 World Cup approaching fast, many ex-cricketers have already started making their predictions for the showpiece event. The recently-concluded five-match T20I series against South Africa saw a number of players cementing their spot for the flight to Australia with their performance.

Indian pacers Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar  (AP)

Dinesh Karthik, who made a comeback to the national side, grabbed the opportunity with open hands and continued his rich form in the white-ball series against South Africa.

Hardik Pandya too carried forward his intent and had a remarkable outing with the bat. With the ball, the 27-year-old all-rounder was not very effective but showed no signs of discomfort.

Apart from him, India opener batter Ishan Kishan, who also looked inconsistent in the recent season of IPL, clicked back to form and emerged as the leading run-getter from the series.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar also made his case strong and produced a splendid outing against the Proteas and barring the first encounter in New Delhi, the 32-year-old seamer troubled the tourists with his clinical display. In the series, Bhuvneshwar bowled a total of 14 overs and conceded runs at an economy of just above six and scalped a total of six wickets.

Sharing his views on the subject, former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer feels Bhuvneshwar has confirmed his spot as the third seamer in the shorter format of the game. He also went to pick two more names, who will be part of India's seam department. Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj were the notable absentees from his picks.

"I would say, probably the way Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar) bowled throughout the series, I think he kind of confirmed himself as the third seamer in my opinion.

“With (Jasprit) Bumrah and Harshal Patel being the first two in my book. Bhuvi is surely one of those guys as a third seamer in my opinion,” said Jaffer during an interaction on ESPNCricinfo.

Shami had finished as the leading wicket-taker from the Gujarat camp in IPL 2022. The pacer had picked 20 wickets from 16 matches at an economy of 8 runs per over. Bhuvneshwar had scalped 12 wickets in 14 encounters for Sunrisers Hyderabad at an economy of 7.34 runs per over.

Sharing his views on the other slots and players, who made quite an impression against the Proteas, Jaffer added: "Yuzvendra Chahal is probably another guy, after Ravindra Jadeja because he is an all-rounder as a second spinner. I think Yuzvendra Chahal is a positive that has come out.

“Ishan Kishan as well, I feel with KL Rahul not there, he is the second opener going forward.”