Mohammed Shami yesterday received the Arjuna Award from the respected President of India, Shri Draupadi Murmu, for his incredible contribution to the Indian team in 2023. It has not even been 24 hours since his felicitation and reports have emerged that the BCCI is ready to have a meeting with Shami to discuss his future in white-ball cricket, especially in the T20 format.
It has been almost 2 months since Mohammed Shami last appeared in Indian colours. He is yet to play a competitive match of any kind since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final loss against Australia on November 19. Shami suffered an ankle injury after the final and has been out of action since then.
The 33-year-old missed everything India’s Post-CWC final matches including the 5-match home T20I series against Australia and the entire month-long tour of South Africa where India played 3 ODI-T20Is and 2 Tests.
Mohammed Shami was expected to play an important role alongside Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah during the Test series, but it did not happen as the BCCI denied him entry into the team after failing a fitness test at the NCA. Shami is currently undergoing rehabilitation and is recovering well from the ankle injury.
Yesterday, while speaking to a media outlet, the Amroha-born speedster confirmed that he is ready to make his international comeback through the home Test series against England starting from January 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Mohammed Shami had also expressed his desire to participate in the 20-team ICC T20 World Cup later this summer and remained available for selection. It is also worth noting that the highest wicket-taker in CWC 2023 has not played any T20 cricket (barring IPL) since he lost the semi-final of WC T20 2022 against England on November 10 in Adelaide.
There will be a conversation with Shami to find out what he wants to do in the future. She has taken on a lot of workload in recent years. This discussion was supposed to take place in South Africa. As he did not travel with the team, the management and selectors will speak to him very soon. It has to be clear how much cricket he wants to play beyond the IPL.” – said a BCCI internal source.
T20 captain Hardik Pandya to have say over Mohammed Shami’s selection
Team India’s captain for the shortest format, Hardik Pandya, who is also recovering from an ankle injury, will have a say in Mohammed Shami’s selection in the T20 team. The information on Shami’s future will include head coach Rahul Dravid, ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and Hardik Pandya himself.
“Hardik remains an important part of the management group. His point of view matters.” – added the source.
