The long-awaited return of the Indian Premier fast bowler, Mohammad Shami, through the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 in the final three red-ball encounters in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney, has become very bleak. The Bengal paver was expected to mark his comeback for the national side at some portion but is far away from the situation.
Mohammad Shami made his return to competitive cricket after nearly a year through the fifth and final round of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 at the Holkar Stadium in Indore against Madhya Pradesh, where he was under the supervision of the fitness coach of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), who was supposed to send the report regarding the pacer’s fitness to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The 34-year-old later was added to the squad of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024 for Bengal, where he was part of nine innings before the team finished in the quarter-final round, losing to Baroda at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. The expectation was to see him fly to Australia for the last two Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests, but that’s not going to happen.
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Mohammad Shami has been in the Bengal squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2024-25, which rules nearly out of the BGT contention. He, however, could mark his return for the national side through the ODI and T20I series at home against England before the Champions Trophy 2025 begins in Pakistan and Dubai from the third week of February.
Mohammad Shami is to be wrapped in cotton wool for the Champions Trophy 2025
The reports have claimed that the veteran could prepare himself for the 50-over event of eight teams and later for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he will feature for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), going for a base price of INR 10 crore in the recent mega auction.
“The swelling seems to come and go. He is keen on playing more and more domestic cricket, and hence, the possibility of him once again playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal (starting December 21) looks imminent at the moment. He can then bowl at least three spells and 10 overs per game.” The source of BCCI, as quoted by NDTV Sports, expressed the development.
Since being named the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for runners-up India, finishing as the highest wicket-taker of last year’s ODI World Cup, Mohammad Shami has missed the Test series in South Africa, the red-ball series against England at home, followed by the IPL 2024 and the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and United States of America.
The right-arm pacer was supposed to return for the home season against Bangladesh and New Zealand, but that too didn’t take place either. The reports questioned what if the injured knee of the pacer gets worse after a long spell in Australia.
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“Mohammad Shami is at the business end of his career. What if his knee acts up badly in Australia after a long spell? He will have to field on hard grounds. He missed the last IPL due to ankle surgery. This time, he has a hefty Rs 10 crore deal with SRH. You can’t blame him if he wants to preserve himself for white ball format for now.” The reports further added.
The absence of Mohammad Shami, however, has been felt by the Blue Brigade, whose bowling department has been shouldered by their premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah. But they have struggled for consistency from both ends, with Mohammad Siraj, Harshit Rana, and Akash Deep not being regular in the line and lengths.