According to reports, Shami and Rohit had a chat which didn’t go smoothly at all following the first Test between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru
Pacer Mohammed Shami is yet to make a return to the Indian team despite fully recovering from the ankle injury that he sustained last year. Though he is yet to return to the international fold, Shami did make his comeback to competitive cricket on November 13 when he featured for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy in their clash against Madhya Pradesh.
Shami instantly made an impression in his comeback match, picking up 7 wickets against Madhya Pradesh. He then also continued to show improvement in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
In the post-match press-conference following India’s 10-wicket defeat to Australia in Adelaide, Rohit was asked to share an update on Shami. Rohit responded to the question by stating that the pacer’s condition is closely being monitored by the team management and added that the ‘door is very much open’ for Shami to play with the team.
“We are just monitoring him because while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali, he got some swelling in his knee, which hampers his preparation to come and play a Test match. We want to be very careful, we don’t want to bring him here, he pulls up sore or something happens,” Rohit said.
“We want to be more than 100 per cent sure with him because it has been a long time. We don’t want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team. There are some professionals monitoring, we will take a call based on what those guys feel. They are the ones watching him every game, how he pulls up after the game, after bowling four overs, standing for 20 overs. But the door is open for him to come and play anytime,” Rohit added.
However, as per a report by Dainik Jagran, all is not well between between Rohit and Shami. The report claims that the duo met after New Zealand beat India in the first Test in Bengaluru, but had a conversation that was not smooth by any means.
“When Shami was at NCA, he met Rohit during the 1st Test in Bengaluru. During their meeting, the two had a heated exchange over the captain’s remark on Shami when asked about his current status and availability for the New Zealand and Australia Test series,” Dainik Jagran quoted a source as saying.
There were rumours that Shami will feature in the upcoming Test against Australia in Brisbane, however it is looking unlikely that he will be able to make it to the squad by that time either. However, there is a chance that Shami may feature in the Melbourne Test which will be played a week after the Test in Brisbane.
