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Shami, who has 44 wickets to his name in 12 Tests played so far against Australia, will miss the upcoming 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ricky Ponting feels India will struggle to take 20 wickets in a Test match in Shami’s absence. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)
Indian men’s cricket team is all set to miss the services of star pacer Mohammed Shami in the upcoming 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Shami, who is dealing with fitness-related issues and hasn’t played a competitive match since November 2023, was not included in India’s 18-member squad for the five-match Test series Down Under.
In his absence, Jasprit Bumrah will lead India’s fast bowling attack and will have Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, and Akash Deep for support. While Siraj and Bumrah have played in Australia before, Prasidh, Harshit, and Akash will face Aussies for the first time in their careers.
Ahead of the start of the India-Australia Test series, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, while speaking on the latest episode of The ICC Review, said that Shami will be a big miss for India, and in his absence, Indian bowlers will struggle to take 20 wickets in a Test match against the Baggy Greens.
“Probably more so now (than before),” Ponting said about Australia’s chances against India. “(Mohammed) Shami just leaves such a big hole in that bowling group. “Back then (in August), there was still some conjecture whether Shami would be fit or not.”
“I think taking 20 wickets in a Test match for India is going to be the biggest challenge. I think they’ll bat well enough out here with the current group of batters that they’ve got,” he added.
Shami, who has 229 wickets to his name in 64 Tests played so far, has played 12 Tests for India against Australia since making his debut in November 2013 and has dismissed 44 batters. He has travelled with the Indian team to Australia on three occasions, and in eight matches played there, he has 31 wickets to his name.
After Shami was not included in India’s squad for the Test series, it was reported that he will be added to the squad if he manages to prove his fitness in the Ranji Trophy matches for Bengal. But he was not included in the team’s squad for the next two matches against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, which has now all but ended his hopes of featuring in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
