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Mohammed Shami made his competitive comeback in November last year after spending nearly 12 months on the sidelines recovering from an ankle injury.
Mohammed Shami last played international cricket in November 2023. (PTI Photo)
Why didn’t Mohammed Shami fly to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy despite making a successful competitive return in November last year? It’s a question that continues to stick out like a sore thumb, more so after the latest fitness setback to Jasprit Bumrah that saw him not bowling in the second innings of the Sydney Test as India lost the match and the series 1-3.
India Test captain Rohit Sharma himself seemed to be unaware of the Shami’s fitness status as he put the onus on the National Cricket Academy (NCA) while claiming the 34-year-old has “some complaints about his knee.”
Shami though has been a regular fixture in domestic cricket for Bengal and taken part in the Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri is surprised by how the team has handled Shami’s recovery and maintaining uncertainty over the veteran pacer’s fitness status.
“To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Mohammed Shami,” Shastri told ICC. “Where is he when it comes to recovery? He’s been sitting in the NCA for I don’t know how long. Why can’t proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia.”
There were speculations that Shami might be link up with the India Test squad midway through the Australia tour but ultimately wasn’t considered.
Shastri says he would have called up Shami to continue his rehabilitation with the squad in Australia and if he wasn’t needed then would have released him.
“I would have kept him (Shami) part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team,” Shastri said. “And then if we thought by the third Test match that no, this guy can’t play the rest of the series, I would let him go. But I would have brought him with the team, kept him, monitored him with the best of the physios and best of the advice even from international physios who are in Australia and seeing how he went. But I would have kept him in the mix.”
Australia legend Ricky Ponting echoed Shastri’s sentiments.
“I was really surprised when he wasn’t flown out even halfway through the series, two Test matches in,” Ponting said.
“If Shami, Bumrah and (Mohammed) Siraj were in their starting team, I think things could have been completely different here in Australia,” he added.
