Mohammed Shami has been dropped from India’s Test squad for the England tour. And now a fresh report in PTI has revealed that Shami rejected the Indian management’s request to join the squad for the Australia tour as his body was not ready for red-ball cricket.
Shami wasn’t fully fit during BGT, and his unavailability in the Australia tour opened the gates for other fast bowlers in the Indian team.
Mohammed Shami denied the management’s request
A former national selector opened up about Mohammed Shami’s omission from the Indian squad. Shami wasn’t available for the England and Australia tour, and it is not possible to play him only home Test series, felt the selector.
“If Mohammed Shami isn’t available in Australia or England, why would the selectors pick him against West Indies and South Africa at home. They might as well use Akash Deep, Arshdeep, Harshit or Mukesh as Siraj or Bumrah’s partner,” a former national selector told PTI.
Indian team were struggling with the inexperienced pace attack in the Australia tour, and the selectors requested Shami to play Test matches in Australia.
Shami was recovering from an injury at the time and isn’t yet fit to take up the Test workload. Shami missed all the matches in Australia, and now his future in Test cricket is a serious issue.
Mohammed Shami’s fitness concern
Shami played his last Test match in 2023 against Australia. Since then, Shami has struggled to play Test matches and missed home Test series against England and New Zealand, and then also missed the Australia tour.
The veteran has scalped 229 wickets in 64 Test matches in his career. Shami was communicating with the selectors and was trying to get fit for the England tour, but Ajit Agarkar thinks he is not fit enough to play the Test matches in England.
“I don’t think his fitness is where it needs to be. It’s just the medical guys who have told us that he has been ruled out of the series. Unfortunately. We were hoping that he would be available for us at some point in the series. If he is not fit at the moment, it’s difficult to play the waiting game,” Ajit Agarkar stated on the fitness of Shami.
The selectors had plans to pick the bowlers, who will play the full England tour, and the current medical status isn’t clear of Shami.
Shami also did not play the last IPL match for Sunrisers Hyderabad due to a fitness issue.
Indian pace attack for the England tour
Jasprit Bumrah will lead the Indian pace attack for the England tour. Arshdeep Singh got his maiden Test call-up from the selectors. Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Akash Deep will support Bumrah in the England series.
