India on Friday named Shami as the replacement for Bumrah in their final 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia. The Men in Blue begin their campaign against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23.

Shami was initially named among the three-man list of reserve players, but eventually he was drafted into the main squad.

Lal — a member of India’s 1983 World Cup winning team — said the absence of Bumrah is a big blow but the team needs to move ahead and back the others to do well.

“Bumrah is a good choice to replace Jasprit Bumrah for the World Cup, as he can give India wickets in the early phase of the innings,” Lal told IANS in an interview.

“Definitely, the loss of Bumrah is a big blow but the team can’t keep thinking about it. All the 15 members who have been picked have done well for India, so we need to trust and back them,” he added.

The 71-year-old is confident about India finding the right team composition.

“We have a solid team, which is full of match-winners. For me, they are one of the top contenders to win the World Cup,” he said.

India had won the inaugural World T20 in South Africa in 2007. But since then, they have not been able to lift the trophy again.

The former India player believes that the competition is tough, which could be one of the reasons, which is stopping India from not winning the title again.

“See, there is tough competition among the top teams, and any side can beat the other team on a given day, especially in the T20 format. But I believe we have a team that can win the title this year,” Lal said.

“If we bowl well, nobody can stop us from winning this time,” he added.

Asked to pick one favourite team to lift the coveted trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November 13, the former Team India coach and national selector said it’s very hard to predict given the uncertainty of the T20 format.

“It’s very difficult to predict in the T20 format. Australia, England, India, Pakistan – all are top teams. Even Sri Lanka, who won the Asia Cup this year, is a good team, while Bangladesh too can cause an upset. So it’s not easy to pick one team that is favourite to win the World Cup,” concluded the veteran of 39 Tests and 67 ODIs.

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