With every single day, the anticipated return of India’s premier fast bowler Mohammad Shami is getting delayed, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) didn’t name him in the 18-member squad for their upcoming five-match Test series in Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. It has been nearly a year since he took part in comparative cricket.
Mohammad Shami was running in his best rhythm with the white ball in November 2023 during the home ODI World Cup, where hardly any batter had answers to his bowling. The swing and seam movement was incredibly hard to deal with by the opposition as he finished as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament.
Since then, it has only been expected to see the return of the veteran pacer in the Indian team. The Bengal pacer was picked for their trip to the Rainbow Nation for the red-ball series, only for the BCCI to remove him from the squad at the eleventh hour.
Mohammad Shami underwent a successful surgery, which ruled him out of the home Test series of five encounters against England at the start of the year, after which he couldn’t take part in either the Indian Premier League (IPL) or the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).
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The reports claimed that the experienced pacer is getting prepared at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for the start of the home Test season of five red-ball clashes against Bangladesh and New Zealand, but he didn’t turn up for any of those.
On the eve of the opening Test against the Blackcaps at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that they won’t be carrying an undercooked pacer for the vital series in Australia.
“To be honest, it is difficult to make a call on him (Mohammad Shami) for the Australia series. He had a setback and had swelling in his knees. That put him back a little bit and had to start again. He’s at the NCA with doctors and physios. We don’t want to bring undercooked Shami to Australia. We are keeping our fingers crossed.” The Indian Test captain is highlighted in the presser.
The contribution of Mohammad Shami, who has picked up 44 wickets in 12 games down under at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 53 with the help of two five-wicket hauls, will be huge for the Blue Brigade.
Side strain to delay the anticipated comeback of Mohammad Shami
But five days after the press conference Rohit, Mohammad Shami was seen to be bowling in full rhythm in the nets of Bengaluru. India, a week later, announced the squad for the BGT 2024-25 without the pacer.
The latest reports shed light on the importance of him needing to take part in a few domestic games for the Bengal side in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, but the coach of the team, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, informed that the bowler hasn’t connected them on that. And three days, he wasn’t picked in the squad for their next two encounters.
Now, the reporter of the Times of India, Gaurav Gupta, has claimed that the pacer must be struggling from a side strain currently, which could delay his comeback further.
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“Hearing that Mohammad Shami is suffering from a side strain now, which could delay his comeback further.” He wrote on his ‘X’ handle (formerly known as Twitter).
The Indian team is expected to leave for Australia in two batches on November 10 and 11, while the opening Test will begin on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
