Ahead of the second T20I against England, a BCCI press release confirmed Nitish Kumar Reddy’s omission from the remaining games of the five-match series due to a side strain. India had to rejig the combination that won the first match at Eden Gardens. The team management decided to replace a seam-bowling all-rounder with a spin-bowling one, Washington Sundar, and Mohammed Shami had to sit out once again.
At Eden Gardens, Shami’s omission from the playing XI was an anti-climax, for the build-up was around the fast bowler’s return to the Indian team fold. At Chepauk, Washington’s inclusion was sort of expected, given his all-round utility. And yet again, the selection call turned out to be spot on, with Washington bowling inside the Powerplay, taking a wicket and making a handy contribution (26, 19 balls) with the bat after India lost their first five wickets for 78 runs.
Shami missing back-to-back games has given rise to speculation over the 34-year-old’s (match) fitness. Former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla spoke about this after the seamer was omitted from the XI for the first game. “If you see the run-up, he (Shami) is still limping a bit. The main target should be the Champions Trophy and getting fit for that. Lots of matches in this series, even if he misses a few games, that is okay,” Chawla told the host broadcaster.
Mohammed Badruddin, Shami’s childhood coach, however, allayed fears over his ward’s fitness. “He (Shami) called me before going to Kolkata for the first T20I and told me that everything was fine,” Badruddin told RevSportz. “His fitness is absolutely fine. I think they (the team management) are building his load at the moment, as he was out of the international set-up for more than a year. I also think that they will play him in the last two T20Is before the ODI series followed by the Champions Trophy. The team management is the best judge. I hope there’s a clear communication between the coach (Gautam Gambhir) and Shami in this regard.”
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Shami suffered an ankle injury during the 2023 World Cup and played through pain. He went under the surgeon’s knife after the tournament and did an elongated rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). After returning to competitive cricket in November last year, he played a series of domestic matches for Bengal across formats. He was included in India’s T20 squad for the ongoing series against England, with an eye on the upcoming Champions Trophy.
There’s a school of thought that Shami needs international game time before the ICC event. And considering the bigger picture, he should be given games rather than horses-for-courses selections. At the same time, the team management knows that Shami would be important for India’s chances in the Champions Trophy, especially if Jasprit Bumrah fails to make the first half of the tournament.
At a Cricket Association of Bengal function before the first T20I, Shami had expressed his eagerness to return to international cricket and spoke about the hard work he has been putting in to prove his fitness. It needs to be seen how things pan out going ahead.