India captain Rohit Sharma has slammed the National Cricket Academy (NCA) regarding the update about the fast bowler Mohammed Shami. According to Rohit, he is not well informed about Shami yet from the NCA which makes it difficult to plan his comeback.
Mohammed Shami was slated to make a comeback to the Indian team after his surgery earlier this year. He was expected to take part in the home Test series against New Zealand and then travel to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
However, he suffered swelling in his knee when he was completing his rehabilitation. This delayed his comeback and he was subsequently not named in India’s initial squad for the tour of Australia.
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Rohit Sharma slams the NCA regarding Mohammed Shami’s fitness update
During a press conference after the Gabba Test, Rohit Sharma was asked about the fitness update of Mohammed Shami. Rohit Sharma blamed it upon the National Cricket Academy about the need for an update on the fast bowler.
Rohit further mentioned that Shami is still having some issues with his knee while playing domestic cricket and the Indian team management won’t risk playing him unless he is fully fit.
“I think it’s high time somebody from NCA talked about him. That’s our national cricket academy where he is rehabing. Those guys are the ones who need to come up and give us some kind of update. But look, I understand he’s playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. The last thing you want is the player coming here and then pulling out in the middle of the game. You know what happens when that kind of thing happens,” Rohit Sharma said.
“There’s no way we want to take that chance unless we are like, not a hundred percent, 200 hundred percent sure. We’re not going to take any risk. But yeah, like I said in the last press conference, the door is open. If those guys at the NCA feel that he’s okay to go and recovered, and play, I will be happy to have him,” he added
Mohammed Shami’s domestic comeback
Mohammed Shami will play in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, a domestic 50-over tournament in India. He will feature for his domestic side Bengal. He played the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently where he helped Bengal reach the quarter-finals. However, they couldn’t go further as they lost to Baroda.
Before the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Shami also featured in one Ranji Trophy game where he bowled 43 overs without any discomfort against Madhya Pradesh. Overall, he picked up 7 wickets in the match.
According to the reports, Mohammed Shami is still facing swelling in his knee which is preventing him from making an international comeback. The Indian team management wants him to be fully fit in the last stages of his career.
Mohammed Shami’s surgery
Shami had surgery on his Achilles heel in February this year which prompted him to miss important tournaments like the IPL 2024 and the T20 World Cup 2024. The fast bowler was expected to return for the home Test series against Bangladesh but couldn’t be fit in time.
The 34-year-old last played an international match in November last year during the ODI World Cup 2023 final in Ahmedabad. Since then, he has been constantly struggling with injuries which have kept him out of international cricket. He is unlikely to join the squad for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy and will be looking to prepare himself for the Champions Trophy next year.