Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru
Will Mohammed Shami play? After a few weeks of speculating and hoping against hope, the answer is in the negative. This has happened a number of times over the last few years, since the fast bowler burst onto the international stage in 2013. As a crucial Test tour of Australia lurks on the horizon, this question resurfaced. And, there is no answer yet.
While this bowler with exceptional skills has been deadly with his immaculate seam position, pace and accuracy, he has also been prone to breakdowns. Otherwise, after over a decade, he would have taken part in more than 64 Tests and 101 ODIs. His abilities are unquestionable, as is evident from his records. The devastating spells he delivered in last year’s 50-over World Cup are fresh in memory. In the Test format also, Shami is a match-winner.
However, the time has come to ask if India should plan ahead for life without Shami. He has been playing for a long time, his body is unlikely to get stronger and there is always a question over his fitness. To his credit, Shami did stay injury-free for a long time and served his team with distinction in top events. But can this last for as long as one wishes?
Rohit Sharma was candid at the press conference a day before the first Test against New Zealand, when asked about Shami’s chances of going to Australia. “To be honest, right now it is pretty difficult for us to make a call on him. He recently had a setback. He had a swelling in his knee, which was quite unusual while he was in the process of getting close to 100%. That put him back a little bit in his recovery. He had to start afresh,” said the India captain.
Later on, RevSportz correspondent Subhayan Chakraborty reported that the bowler with roots in Uttar Pradesh requires six more weeks. If, for the sake of argument, it is believed that Shami will be fit in six weeks, he will still have to prove his match-readiness in first-class games. The options are Ranji Trophy fixtures and an India A tour of Australia. After that, the selectors and the team management will have to take a call. Will they have adequate time for that?
Since these questions linger and continue to cast a shadow over the international future of the bowler representing Bengal, it’s perhaps prudent to look ahead instead of thinking what could have been. That Prasidh Krishna and Mayank Yadav have been named travelling reserves for the New Zealand series, suggests that the people who matter are evaluating options. There are more, like Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal and Avesh Khan trying to make a mark.
“The physios, trainers and doctors have set a roadmap for him (Shami). He is supposed to play a couple of games before he plays international cricket. So, we will see where he is after this New Zealand series, and then take a call at what stage of Australia he will be fit for us. Right now, we are keeping our fingers crossed. We want him to be 100% fit. We don’t want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia,” Rohit said.
He is not mentioned alongside the greatest of Indian fast bowlers after Kapil Dev. But, on his day, Shami is not inferior to Javagal Srinath or Zaheer Khan. Even when playing alongside Jasprit Bumrah, there were times when he outperformed him in terms of impact on the opposition. That said, everything has to come to an end. An ageing Shami of proven qualities faces this unenviable challenge of turning the clock back.
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