Mohammed Shami’s long wait ended as he finally found himself among his India teammates at Eden Gardens on Sunday.

The ankle surgery, followed by a dodgy knee, had kept Shami out of India reckoning since the end of the ODI World Cup in November 2023. Having made his comeback in competitive cricket with Bengal’s Ranji Trophy clash against Madhya Pradesh two months ago and then featuring in quite a few games of the national T20 and one-day competitions, the senior pacer’s troublesome left knee continued to bug him.

However, he continued working on his fitness at the NCA (National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru) which culminated in his India comeback after what certainly was a long time. In his first practice session in the Team India practice jersey in 14 months, Shami bowled for more than an hour under lights at the Eden with a cap on his left knee.

Shami first bowled on one of the open practice pitches, running three to four steps, under the supervision of India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel, who stood at the wicketkeeper’s position. Spending around 15 to 20 minutes there, the 34-year-old shifted to the nets where he first began with a just few steps before bowling with a full run-up at Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Dhruv Jurel.

Although Shami looked a tad wayward, particularly against keeper-batter Jurel, he managed to beat the bat of Samson and Tilak on an occasion or two and tried to work up a bit of extra pace as well at times. Done with his work at nets for close to 45 minutes — with head coach Gautam Gambhir also monitoring his rhythm for a certain period — Shami again headed to the practice pitch and bowled with a shortened run-up with Morkel positioned behind the stumps.

At the end of the season, he slowly walked off the field with a member of the support staff and returned with further strapping on the left knee. “That’s precautionary... Something he had been doing even when at the NCA,” a BCCI official told The Telegraph.

“He does that (bowling with a short run-up) usually for around three to four overs to warm up. Once he finds the rhythm, he then goes full throttle with his actual run-up,” the official added.

Shami didn’t have any kind of practice with the bat, though. His pace colleague Harshit Rana, in line to make his T20I debut in this England series, spent some with the bat too at nets. For coach Gambhir too, it was a fresh start following the harrowing time in Australia and its aftermath, as for the next few days at least he will be able to work with a different set of players.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav, too, didn’t bat at nets, while left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh couldn’t attend the session as he arrived late on Sunday due to personal work.

India’s practice earlier began with a unique fielding drill. A support staff member was seen hitting the ball in the air and one of the players wearing a helmet headed it towards a random teammate. The drill, centring on increasing agility and reflex, was also a part of the Team India training during the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE.