At a time when Team India are on ascendancy following the Test series sweep against Bangladesh, Mohammed Shami, who has been out of the team for quite some time because of injury, seems to be slipping further into uncertainty.
The 34-year-old pacer, whose last competitive appearance was the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad, has been out of action for close to 11 months owing to an ankle injury. He went under the scalpel earlier this year and has been going through the recovery process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru under the supervision of Nitin Patel, the head of sports science there.
On his part too, Shami was quite confident of returning to competitive cricket with two Ranji Trophy appearances for Bengal. But that doesn’t seem possible at present as he is learnt to have sustained a swelling in his ankle area, which could once again sideline him for the next few weeks, at least.
This season’s Ranji begins on October 11 with Bengal playing their opener against Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow. “We came to know that Shami’s injury has flared up again. So, him playing our opening game in the Ranji is just impossible,” a senior Cricket Association of Bengal official said on Tuesday.
According to an insider in the BCCI, Shami could be out for the next six to eight weeks given his current condition. “He was yet to bowl at full intensity at the NCA. Whatever bowling he did was just by running two to three or at best four steps. That wasn’t full throttle.
“On top of everything, you need to be able to run at full intensity, which Shami hadn’t yet. So, given his present condition, it will take him six to eight weeks to be match-fit, which means he’s uncertain also for the first Test against Australia.
“In these cases, even if you begin running from tomorrow, it will still take you at least six to eight weeks to be fully fit. Your body has to be strong enough to start running at full intensity,” the Board insider explained.
India’s first Test against Australia will be held in Perth from November 22.
In recent posts on his social media handle, Shami has been seen bowling and batting at nets. But the intensity wasn’t quite there, especially while bowling.
From the Indian team management’s point of view, captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir would certainly want Shami to be a part of the bowling attack in the five-Test series against the Australians. Despite the strength of India’s pace attack, Shami’s experience always matters.
