T20 World Cup 2022: Mohammed Shami is always up for a challenge "We wanted to give him the challenge," Rohit Sharma said

But, "This was always the plan." said Rohit Sharma.

He explained that the plan was to throw a challenge on Mohammed Shami, returning to the game after a long layoff. "Honestly, he is coming back after a long time. So we just wanted to give him an over. This was always the plan from the beginning," Rohit Sharma said on Star Sports. 

While defending their total of 186, India looked to be struggling, especially in middle overs. And knowing how fragile India's death over bowling is in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India was almost on the verge of losing the contest. 

And that is when skipper Rohit Sharma threw a challenge to bowl the final over to Mohammed Shami. 

The skipper added, "He comes and bowls at the death. We know how lethal he can be with the new ball. We just wanted to give him a little bit of a challenge, coming and bowling that death over and we saw what it was."

Mohammed Shami dispelled all doubts surrounding his fitness with a splendid three-wicket and one-run-out wicket 20th over, handing India a six-run win in Brisbane. The 32-year-old's comeback spell of three wickets was celebrated and appreciated by cricket pundits in no time. 

An opportunity for Mohammed Shami on the pitches he loves

When included in reserves for the World Cup squad, the selectors were called out the cost for this decision. This was mainly because he has vast experience in Australia. Keeping him in reserves when the bowling department was already struggling in Asia Cup made a little less sense. 

But now one man's misfortune [Jasprit Bumrah] has proved another man's [Mohammed Shami] opportunity. Though it came at the cost of one of the best T20 bowlers, it will be an excellent opportunity for him to prove himself as a T20 bowler by filling in the vacuum left by Jasprit Bumrah. 

Having played 29 innings in Australia, the right-arm pacer has 53 scalps to his name with an economy of 4.10. Most of these belong to the red-ball format; however, a good acquaintance of the pitch will help the bowler even in the white-ball format. 

Can Mohammed Shami be the X-factor against Pakistan?

"Bumrah not being there is a big loss and we obviously needed a strike bowler. An out-and-out genuine fast bowler, who could attack batters and get wickets. Shami has proven that and he seems a good replacement," said Sachin Tendulkar.

With a point to prove and establish himself as a great T20 bowler, Mohammed Shami will be crucial for India in the powerplay and death overs in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. The right-arm pacer hasn't played any international T20I for India after the conclusion of the last T20 World Cup. 

In a game of such high voltage, having an experienced bowler with attacking and wicket-taking intent is as important as having an attacking opener like KL Rahul. 

"Definitely, if we win the opening game against Pakistan, we will win the World Cup," Raina told NDTV.

Pakistan is also trusting their star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi even though he has not played T20I for a long time simply because there is no doubt in his caliber, and the same goes with Mohammed Shami.

Talking about what are the chances of India winning the tournament, Raina said: "The team is doing well right now. Shami has replaced Bumrah, it will give the side a bit of X-factor."