Rohit Sharma, India Test, and ODI captain gave an update about pacer Mohammad Shami and his fitness. Shami was not picked for the three-match New Zealand Test series and Rohit Sharma has revealed that chances of him touring Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) are slim.
Shami has not played since the ODI World Cup 2023 when the Men in Blue lost heartbreakingly to Australia in the final. He collected 24 wickets in seven matches, at an outstanding average of 10.70. The right-arm pacer had Achilles tendon surgery earlier this year.
Mohammed Shami is yet to play for Team India in the current World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle. Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, and Akash Deep debuted for the national cricket squad.
The 34-year-old pacer missed numerous significant contests, including the South Africa trip, the home Test series against England, the IPL 2024, and the T20 World Cup 2024. Ajit Agarkar, Chief Selector, stated that Shami would be fully fit for the Bangladesh Test series, but he did not play.
Selectors don’t want an undercooked Mohammad Shami in Australia- Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma also disclosed that Mohammed Shami had a new injury issue while recovering from a knee injury that had kept him out of play since the ODI World Cup in India in 2023.
The skipper stated that India will give Shami adequate time to heal from the setback rather than rush him back and send a ‘undercooked’ fast bowler to Australia.
Shami, who underwent surgery on his right Achilles tendon in February this year, has now developed a swelling on his knee which has “put him back a little bit in his recovery”, according to Rohit.
“To be honest, it’s pretty difficult for us to make a call on him, whether he would be fit for this series or the Australia series. He recently had a setback, he had a swelling in his knee which was quite unusual. When he was getting close to 100 percent, he had a swelling in his knee that put him back a little bit in his recovery. He had to start afresh,” Rohit said.
Rohit Sharma says India doesn’t want to carry an undercooked and semi-fit Mohammad Shami to Australia.
“Right now, he is at the NCA. He is working with the physios and the doctors. We are closely keeping an eye. We want him to be fit. We want him to be 100 percent fit, more than anything else. We don’t want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia. That’s not going to be the right decision for us. He has not played cricket for a year, and that’s quite tough for a fast bowler to come back and be at his best.
That’s not ideal. We want to give him enough time to recover and be 100 percent fit. The physios, the trainers and the doctors have set a roadmap for him. He is supposed to play a couple of domestic matches before international matches. We will see where he is at after the New Zealand series and take a call as to what stage of Australia tour, he can be fit for us,” Rohit added.
India has eight Tests left in the current WTC cycle. They play a three-match series against New Zealand after which they will travel to Australia for five Tests starting November 22.
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