The Border-Gavaskar Trophy has reached a thrilling crossroads. After three thrilling Test matches, the series is tied up at 1-1. Mohammed Shami’s participation has become the major talking point of the ongoing series. In a recent interaction, Rohit Sharma hints at the Indian pacer’s Mohammed Shami‘s return.
In recent times, Mohammed Shami’s injury has been a huge concern. The pivotal figure of the Indian pace unit has been out of the team for a long. After missing out on some of the major series, Mohammed Shami is also missing the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India and Australia are playing against each other in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test series. The inexperience of the Indian pace attack can be clearly seen based on their performances in the second and the third Test. Since then the Indian fans are demanding the return of pacer
Mohammed Shami who was reported to join the team camp ahead of the fourth Test match set to be played in Melbourne from December 26. However, all the speculations were broken after the ace Indian pacer was included in Bengal’s Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 squad.
Mohammed Shami’s injury and current status
Mohammed Shami underwent a surgery for his ankle injury after 2023 ODI World Cup and hasn’t played international cricket for more than an year. Mohammed Shami went through his rehabilitation process in the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru and has been playing domestic cricket since last month. While the BCCI didn’t want to rush with Shami’s case, he wasn’t included in Team India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
Mohammed Shami has been among the leading pace bowlers for the India national cricket team. The ace Indian pacer had a fairytale run in the ODI World Cup 2023 wherein he ended up becoming the leading wicket taker. However, the latter has been an injury prone bowler as well and is waiting for his return in the Indian jersey.
Mohammed Shami named in Bengal squad for 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy
Mohammed Shami, meanwhile, has been named in Bengal squad for the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The 34-year-old recently picked up 11 wickets in nine matches at an economy rate of 6.03 in the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy trophy.
Earlier this year, Shami made his comeback to competitive cricket 360 days after sustaining an ankle injury during 2023 World Cup. He picked up seven wickets in the Ranji Trophy game against Madhya Pradesh. He also scored 37 runs in the second innings as his team triumphed by 11 runs.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma was once again asked about Mohammed Shami’s fitness during the post IND vs AUS 3rd Test press conference. However, the Indian skipper was left irritated with the question and stated that the NCA must answer this question.
Rohit Sharma addresses Mohammed Shami’s fitness after BGT 2024-25 3rd Test
India captain Rohit Sharma said that he is awaiting a response from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru regarding Mohammed Shami’s fitness ahead of the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar 2024-25 Trophy in Australia. The captain reiterated that Mohammed Shami has issues with his knee and he doesn’t want the pacer to get injured again after a year-long comeback.
After a year-long pause, Mohammed Shami has returned to action in domestic cricket. But the wait of his international comeback continues. Before moving to the Melbourne Test, Rohit Sharma was quizzed about his update, and the Indian skipper delivered his update with a trademark flair.
The 37-year-old, however, accepted the fact that the speedster has become a regular for Bengal in the domestic setup.
Rohit’s reaction comes days after a rumored rift between the two players regarding Shami’s fitness. Here’s what the skipper said during the post-match press conference after the third Test in Brisbane on Wednesday, December 18:
“I think it’s high time somebody from NCA talked about him. That’s our national cricket academy where he is rehabing. Those guys are the ones who need to come up and give us some kind of update. But look, I understand he’s playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. The last thing you want is the player coming here and then pulling out in the middle of the game. You know what happens when that kind of thing happens.”
“There’s no way we want to take that chance unless we are like, not a hundred percent, 200 hundred percent sure. We’re not going to take any risk. But yeah, like I said in the last press conference, the door is open. If those guys at the NCA feel that he’s okay to go and recovered, and play, I will be happy to have him,” he added.
It’s worth mentioning that Mohammed Siraj suffered a hamstring issue before resuming his bowling after a few overs during the first innings against Australia, who piled up 445 runs. The bowling unit didn’t look convincing in the first essay, barring Jasprit Bumrah. However, Siraj and Akash Deep bagged two wickets apiece in the second innings against Australia.
After ongoing surgery and lengthy rehab earlier this year, there was plenty of buzz about Mohammed Shami’s comeback in the home Test series Against Bangladesh. Reports later hinted, at his possible return in the home Test series against New Zealand. But the wait has become longer. Despite his return to domestic cricket, Rohit Sharma and the team management remain cautious, unwilling to rush Shami’s comeback.