Barring Monday’s practice session, Mohammed Shami certainly did a lot of bowling at nets and the open practice pitch at the Eden in the lead-up to the first T20I against England. Not seeing the senior pacer as a part of India’s XI in Wednesday’s series opener thus was somewhat of a surprise.
For the 55,000-plus too that had assembled on a weekday, not being able to witness Shami steam in was undoubtedly a big miss.
In other words, an anti-climax. Particularly, after Shami himself had acknowledged very recently how special it would be to make his international comeback at the Eden which is not just his home venue, but his “life” as well.
In fact, he had spoken on similar lines even in an inteurview to bcci.tv during one of India’s practice sessions before Wednesday’s clash.
Benching Shami, Team India went in with an extra specialist spinner at the Eden with Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya to take care of the pace department.
Agreed, India didn’t feel Shami’s absence with Arshdeep striking twice early to become India’s highest wicket-taker in T20I cricket (with 97 scalps, surpassing Yuzvendra Chahal’s 96) before spinners — led by Varun Chakravarthy (3/23) — stifled England.
So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Shami didn’t find a place in the XI only because India preferred to play the extra spinner.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who was at the Eden during the game, also said the same. “They went in with an extra spinner, that’s why Shami couldn’t play.
“Besides, against England, it’s one kind of advantage if you include that extra spinner in the line-up. Even today, Varun bowled well... Made good use of the drift.” Sourav, also an ex-president of the BCCI, pointed out.
If combination wasn’t the reason, the team management could well have included Harshit Rana as the second specialist pacer. But, what surprised one and all was Shami kept out in conditions he knew better than most.
“Maybe it’s because of the conditions and team combination that he (Shami) didn’t play in this game,” opener Abhishek Sharma said after India’s seven-wicket win.
“See, given Shami’s stature and level, almost every ground in the country can be his home venue. Not just Eden... I’m sure he’ll be having his share of game time going forward.
“Now you also got to have to look at how well Arshdeep bowled today (Wednesday). He kept hitting the right areas,” Sourav said.
The first question that comes to mind in this case is if Shami’s fitness is still a concern. In the last two training sessions here, he had practised with both his knees strapped.
“In the circumstances, the team management will go slow with him (Shami), making sure he gets a bit of game time before the Champions Trophy as that’s more important,” a BCCI official told The Telegraph later.
“It appears he will play at best two to three T20Is followed by a couple of ODIs in the upcoming series against England,” the official added.
For sure India have to be extra careful with Shami in the current scenario. With pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah still resting and yet to reach the National Cricket Academy (in Bengaluru), having Shami 100 per cent fit going into the Champions Trophy is a must for India.