Ace Indian Paper Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the two-match test series against South Africa after failing to recover from an injury that he sustained during the ODI World Cup 2023 on home soil. The 33-year-old seamer’s injury would be a huge miss for the Men In Blue, given his incredible record in overseas conditions.
Shami is expected to continue his recovery at home for the time being, and he could return during the Test series against England, which begins on January 25 in Hyderabad. The Right arm pacer was the top wicket-taker in the just concluded ODI World Cup with 24 wickets.
“Mohd. Shami, whose participation in the Test series was subject to fitness has not been cleared by the BCCI Medical Team and the fast bowler is ruled out of the two Tests,” BCCI said in a release.
Mohammed Shami has 229 wickets in 64 Tests at an impressive average of 27.71. He was the team’s leading wicket-taker during their previous visit in 2021-22, taking 14 wickets in three Tests at an average of 21. The Men in Blue now have five fast bowlers to choose from: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Shardul Thakur, and Prasidh Krishna for the South Africa series.
A change to the ODI squad was the absence of medium pacer Deepak Chahar, who will miss out on the tour due to a family emergency. Bengal pacer Akash Deep, who was already in South Africa with India A, took his position in the Indian squad.
“Deepak Chahar has informed the BCCI that he will not be available for the upcoming ODI series due to a family medical emergency. The Men’s Selection Committee has named Mr Akash Deep as his replacement,” BCCI said.
Indian Middle order batter Shreyas Iyer will only be available for the first ODI of the series on December 17. He will thereafter join the Test squad and will not play the remaining two games of the ODI Series
“After the conclusion of the first ODI in Johannesburg on 17th December, Shreyas Iyer will join the Test squad to prepare for the Test series. He will not be available for the second and third ODI and will take part in the inter-squad game.”
India’s head coach Rahul Dravid, will not guide the squad in the next three-match One-Day International series against South Africa, which begins on Sunday. Instead, India’s head coach will accompany the red-ball squad to oversee preparations for the two-match Test series.
India’s updated ODI squad for South Africa series: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C)(wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep
