Mohammed Shami is inching closer to making a comeback to the India Cricket Team. After almost missing action for a year, Shami played for Bengal in a Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh. And now the ace pacer is likely en route to travel to Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. However, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that there is no need to push an undercooked Shami to play in the IND vs AUS Test series.
Mohammed Shami had a good outing for Bengal in his last match. He went on to scalp 7 wickets in the game as Bengal clinched a thrilling win. On the other hand, the dearth of experienced pacers continues to haunt Team India. Save Jasprit Bumrah there aren’t many experienced options with Mohammed Siraj going through a rough patch for quite some time.
No Need to push undercooked Shami
Aakash Chopra believes that Mohammed Shami is still undercooked and is yet to regain full fitness. He argued that since Shami has been out of action for almost a year, it would take him some time to regain his 100% fitness. On the other hand, pushing a player too hard can see him getting further injured.
“Mohammed Shami has played a match (Ranji). We weren’t able to see much of his bowling as it was not being streamed. We did see the wickets he took. I’d say he is undercooked. Honestly, we want Shami to be there (in Australia) because Bumrah, Shami, Siraj — there’s a different ring to it. In Bumrah, Siraj, Akash Deep combination, we can see a bit of weakness. Lack of experience can be felt,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“To push Shami into Test cricket so early will be a questionable call because he hasn’t played since last one year. You play one match after a year and suddenly you put Shami in a Test game, that won’t be fair. If there’s a breakdown during the match or if there is no form, then everyone will ask ‘why was there so much desperation to play Shami?'” he added.
Aakash Chopra further made a very good point about potential injury concerns. He said that the grounds in Australia are very soft and this can trigger a player to get injured, thus greatly increasing the recurrence of an injury. He claimed that Shami needs more time and thus shouldn’t be pushed.
Shami’s last international outing came in the ODI World Cup 2023. Following this he underwent the knife for ankle surgery. While recovering at the NCA, there were reports of him sustaining a knee injury as well.
“Secondly, the grounds in Australia are very soft, so there are chances of recurrence of injury. I would say Shami should take more time. We all want Shami to play as soon as possible, but we shouldn’t hurry his return,” Chopra concluded.
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