The Indian team will hope that the experienced all-format pacer, Mohammed Shami can make his return to the side for the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh, after being out of action since last year’s ODI World Cup.
India will be in action once again as they take on their neighbours in a two-match Test series which is set to begin on September 19 in Chennai.
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Following the 2023 ODI World Cup, Shami was not cleared to compete due to a right heel issue which resulted in him missing out on the away tour to South Africa, the five-match Test series against England followed by the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League.
The pacer had undergone surgery in February this year and was with the National Cricket Academy (NCA) where he had been undergoing rehabilitation for quite some time.
A report from ESPNCricinfo has suggested that the fast bowler is in his final stages of rehab and he began bowling for the first time post-surgery. It added that Shami is understood to have slowly built up his bowling workload after being pain-free.
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“The selectors have been apprised of Shami’s progress and a decision on whether he should play at least one of the Duleep Trophy matches, beginning on September 5 in Anantapur, to prove his fitness will be taken soon,” added the report.
Earlier this month, the chief selector Ajit Agarkar had revealed that Shami had started to bowl and the goal was to have him back for the Bangladesh Tests.
“We more or less know who the guys are, there are some injuries at the moment and hope they will be back up. Shami has started to bowl which is a good sign. September 19 is the first Test and that was always the goal. I don’t know if that is his timeline for recovery, will have to ask the guys at the NCA about that.”
Agarkar also highlighted the need to build some solid squad depth in India’s pace department with the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah having led the pace attack for quite some time now.
“There are so many Tests coming. We will need some depth. Bumrah, Shami, and Siraj have been around for a while, these are the obvious ones. But there will be some conversation around it. Got a lot of first-class cricket coming up so we can build guys up like that.”
At an event in Kolkata last month, Shami had expressed that he would turn out for Bengal first before returning to the national team on his path to playing Test cricket again. Apart from India’s Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand, the first half of the Ranji Trophy is starting in October, followed by India ‘A’ going to play two first-class games in Australia, giving Shami ample chances to build his fitness for the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
(with IANS Inputs)
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