Former India head coach Ravi Shastri questioned the mystery over Mohammed Shami’s injury and recovery, noting that he was surprised the pacer did not make it Australia. The veteran pacer, who went under the knife in 2024, was supposed to punch his ticket to Down Under for IND vs AUS Test series. However, complications in his recovery including the bowler developing swelling in his knees led to him being ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Following India’s series defeat, Shastri and Ricky Ponting have questioned the lack of clarity provided by the BCCI and NCA on the status of Shami’s recovery.
Shami “has been sitting at NCA…”
Speaking on the latest episode of ICC Review, Shastri opined that he would have taken Shami with the rest of the team to Australia and ensured that his recovery was monitored by the team’s support staff. He questioned the lack of clarity provided to the media regarding the pacer and noted that he had been at the NCA for a long time now. Thr ex-India coach added that he would have preferred if Shami was with the rest of the team, even if the management had to release him after three Tests because he failed to recover completely.
“Where is he when it comes to recovery? He’s been sitting in the NCA for I don’t know how long. Why can’t proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia,” Shastri said.
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Ricky Ponting echoed Shastri’s sentiments and claimed that he was surprised the pacer wasn’t flown to Australia at least mid-way through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The former Australian skipper reckoned that having Shami in the side, even if he bowled minimum number of overs, would have been a game-changer for India.
“So if Shami, even if he wasn’t fully fit, if he had to bowl fewer overs in a day, you had a backup seam bowling option to help him out and I think he could have been the difference,” Ponting said.
With BGT 2024-25 done, all eyes are now on Shami as to if he will take part in IND vs ENG ODI series, the penultimate stop before Champions Trophy 2025.
