Following a heartbreaking defeat in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, former India head coach Ravi Shastri claims that he might have kept Shami as part of the squad.
The experienced Indian pacer Mohammed Shami played his last international game during India’s ODI World Cup final against Australia in November 2023 and then underwent ankle surgery.
Following his surgery in February, he continued his rehabilitation before returning to competitive cricket for the Ranji Trophy. In the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test, Shami was officially ruled out of joining the Indian squad for what remained on the tour of Australia.
“I would have kept him part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team. And then if we thought by the third Test match that no, this guy can’t play the rest of the series, I would let him go
But I would have brought him with the team, kept him, monitored him with the best of the physios and best of the advice even from international physios who are in Australia and seeing how he went. But I would have kept him in the mix” Shastri told the ICC Review.
“To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Shami. Where is he when it comes to recovery? He’s been sitting in the NCA for I don’t know how long. Why can’t proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia,” he added.
India’s stand-in captain had an incredible series, picking 32 wickets at an average of 13.06. However, during Day 2 of the Sydney Test Bumrah with a suspected injury concern left the stadium in the middle of the game.
Before leaving the field, Bumrah has bowled 151.2 overs across five Tests with only his Australia counterpart Pat Cummins having bowled more(152 overs).
“It got so tight at 1-1 going into Melbourne. You just needed that experience and support. For all you know, he might have raised the bar as well. And it would have been the two guys there (Bumrah and Shami).
“Pat Cummins couldn’t have done it on his own, Scotty Boland had to step in. So you needed a bowler of his experience. You know, as hard as Mohammed Siraj tried, you needed Shami’s experience there,” Shastri added.
