Mohammed Shami Asked To Join Indian Team To Work On Rehabilitation
Jan 25, 2017 at 10:04 AM
Mohammed Shami, India fast-bowler, who is recuperating from a knee injury that he had sustained during the Test series against England, has been asked to join the Indian team at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur in order to speed up his recovery.
Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said the facilities available in Shami’s hometown are not ‘good enough’ and so he has been asked to join the team.
The fast-bowler was undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy but now that its main physio Patrick Farhart and trainer Anand Date are plying their services to the Indian team, the bowler has been asked continue his recovery process with them by joining the national team.
“The facilities in his hometown are not good enough. That’s why we asked him to come to Kanpur so that the team physio could keep a proper tab on his improvement,” Prasad said while speaking to The Times of India on Tuesday (January 24).
Prasad also said the bowler will not play in the upcoming three-match T20 series against England. Shami is also not a part of the squad for Bengal’s first two Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 matches.
“He hasn’t recovered. How can he be allowed to play? We need to be very careful with him,” Prasad said.
The fast-bowler, who performed extremely well in the Test series against England, has a history with knee injuries. He had undergone a knee surgery after the last World Cup and was out for 15 months. With the Champions Trophy being the next 50-over assignment for India, Shami will not get any match practice before the tournament and Prasad said if Shami gets fit in time and plays he Indian Premier League, it’ll be enough for the team management to get an idea on how is he doing in the shorter formats.
“We have a big Test series coming up against Australia. We want him to play. As I have earlier stated, we want to stay at the top of the Test rankings for as long as possible. If he stays fit, we will get a fair idea how he is doing in the shorter formats during the IPL,” Prasad concluded.