Team India’s Mohammed Shami situation is turning out to be more serious than earlier imagined. Since the last two months, Shami has been believed to be perilously close to returning to the Indian team, but after three Test series, he continues to play for Bengal. Shami, who underwent ankle surgery earlier this year and missed the IPL and the T20 World Cup in the process, played his first competitive match since the 2023 World Cup, on November 13 – he took seven wickets against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and has since, continued to show improvement playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
During the post-match press conference following India’s 10-wicket loss to Australia, captain Rohit Sharma, when asked to share an update on Mohammed Shami, said the ‘door is very much open’ for Shami: “We are just monitoring him because while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali, he got some swelling in his knee, which hampers his preparation to come and play a Test match. We want to be very careful, we don’t want to bring him here, he pulls up sore or something happens.
“We want to be more than 100 per cent sure with him because it has been a long time. We don’t want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team. There are some professionals monitoring, we will take a call based on what those guys feel. They are the ones watching him every game, how he pulls up after the game, after bowling four overs, standing for 20 overs. But the door is open for him to come and play anytime.”
However, as things stand, a report in the Dainik Jagran states that not all is well between Rohit and Shami. This dates back to last month, when India were in the middle of a Test series against New Zealand. Ahead of the opener in Bengaluru, Rohit revealed that, unlike the belief that Shami is fully fit, there’s swelling in his knee. Before this, Shami had retaliated to media reports that he had picked up a new injury, calling it fake and reiterating that he was fit and raring to go. This was just the tip of the iceberg, though. The report claims Rohit and Shami met after New Zealand beat India in the first Test, but had a conversation that was anything but smooth.
Shami, Rohit’s heated meeting
“When Shami was at NCA, he met Rohit during the 1st Test in Bengaluru. During their meeting, the two had a heated exchange over the captain’s remark on Shami when asked about his current status and availability for the New Zealand and Australia Test series,” Jagran quoted a source as saying.
Rohit had said this on the eve of the 1st Test in Bengaluru: “Right now, it is pretty difficult for us to make a call on whether he will be fit for this series or the Australia series.
“He recently had a setback – he had a swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual. He was in the process of getting fit – getting close to 100% – and he had a swelling in his knee. That put him back a little bit in his recovery, so he had to start again fresh.”
What next for Mohammed Shami?
The question is clear: Does Rohit not want Shami in India’s Test set-up? Why else is there still no clarity over his joining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy? His Border-Gavaskar Trophy kit and Australia visa are ready, but Shami continues to wait, despite regularly turning up for Bengal in the SMAT. The BCCI has yet to give him a go-ahead, waiting for one final clearance from the NCA.
Even if he joins, Shami is all but ruled out of the Brisbane Test. However, given the week-long gap between the Gabba and Melbourne, the Boxing Day Test is when Shami has a realistic chance of playing his first game for India in over a year.
