Mohammed Shami will play a crucial role for India in June when the Men in Blue travel to England for a five-match Test series. The tour will mark the veteran pacer’s return to the longest format of the game for the first time since 2023. While he is currently a part of SRH in IPL 2025, it will make more sense if he does not play the entire tournament – both in terms of managing his workload and preparing for the red-ball challenge.
Shami needs to shift focus from IPL to Tests in May
After being on the sidelines for over a year due to an ankle injury, Shami finally made his comeback in January 2025. He was a part of the Champions Trophy-winning Indian team, spearheading the pace department in the absence of Bumrah. However, his real challenge is not playing the entire IPL 2025 tournament but to be compltely fit to feature throughout the five-match Test series in June.
So far in IPL 2025, Shami has featured in all six matches that SRH have played. However, he has only managed to take 4 wickets. In Saturday’s game against PBKS, he conceded 75 runs in 4 overs to become the mosst expensive Indian bowler in the IPL.
While there is no doubt about Shami’s capability with the white-ball, he just doesn’t seem to be in good touch in T20s. It seems it would be only logical for the veteran pacer to pull out of IPL 2025 early and rather focus on preparing for England Tests.
By ending his stint with SRH in May, Shami could start primarily gearing up for the red-ball challenge by getting into the groove to bowl long spells. That is something the IPL does not offer as he is required to bowl only 4 overs. The very fact that there will be only 2 weeks of gap between the end of IPL 2025 and the start of IND vs ENG series means he would have very little time to make the switch.
Secondly, Shami could also travel to England before the rest of the Indian team to get to know the conditions before the series. Most importantly, pulling out from the IPL 2025, as mentioned before, could help him maintain workload management and ensure full fitness for the series.
It is pertinent to note that reports had earlier claimed that the selectors were not keen on planning the England series around Shami and Bumrah. The reports claimed that they would keep a close eye on the pacer through IPL 2025.
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