If he doesn’t make it to Australia, India will have to go with a depleted bowling attack, which would be less experienced.
A Gujarat Titans (GT) pacer has suffered a massive setback on his road to recovery and will be out of action further. The player hasn’t played competitive cricket for a while now, and just when things looked to be on track, another problem arose.
Mohammed Shami, the Indian pacer, developed a swollen knee while rehabbing at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). According to a report by TOI, it will now take another six to eight weeks to heal fully, which means India’s plans to help Shami make a swift comeback have taken a significant hit.
“Shami had resumed bowling, and he was looking on track to make a comeback to competitive cricket soon. But this knee injury has flared up recently. BCCI’s medical team is assessing the injury, but it may require quite a bit of time,” TOI quoted a BCCI source.
Initially, he was supposed to feature for his domestic side Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, which will start on October 11. Later, he would have been slotted to India’s squad for the five-match Test series against Australia Down Under, starting in Perth on November 22 later this year, but the plans have derailed after a fresh development.
Shami has been out of action since the end of November last year
Mohammed Shami hasn’t played competitive cricket since India’s heartbreaking defeat against Australia in the World Cup 2023 final on November 19. He underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon in February, which was successful.
His absence will be a huge blow for India on their Australia tour, given Shami has previous experience playing there and is immensely skilled. If he doesn’t make it to Australia, India will have to go with a depleted bowling attack, which would be less experienced.
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It will also increase the workload on Jasprit Bumrah, who will have to play more in Shami’s unavailability. It remains to be seen whether India opt to rest him for the New Zealand series later in the month.
In Shami’s continued absence, Akash Deep has had chances and has done quite well early in his career. He will now play more, and India would hope he can replicate what Shami did all these years in red-ball cricket.
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