Less than eight weeks before India lock horns with Australia in the first Test in Perth, Rohit Sharma and Co. have been dealt a major setback with one of their top fast bowlers developing a fresh fitness concern that could potentially jeopardize his participation in the much-awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Mohammed Shami’s knee injured has reportedly flared up recently even as he was nearing a competitive return through Ranji Trophy for Bengal. Shami hasn’t played any form of cricket after his record-breaking show at the 2023 ODI World Cup with the final defeat to Australia being his last match.
Shami is said to have taken injections to manage an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup with the BCCI medical team eventually opting to have him undergo a surgery. The surgery further pushed Shami into the sidelines as he missed the tour of South Africa, five-match Test series against England at home, IPL 2024 and the 2024 T20 World Cup which India won.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar had earlier hoped Shami will be back to full fitness by the Bangladesh Test series which concluded on Tuesday with India completing a 2-0 clean sweep. However, the 34-year-old continued his recovery and is now expected to begin his comeback journey through red-ball cricket.
But the latest injury concern could delay his return.
“Shami had resumed bowling and he was looking on track to make a comeback to competitive cricket soon. But this knee injury has flared up recently. BCCI’s medical team is assessing the injury but it may require quite a bit of time,” a BCCI source told The Times of India.
“It’s a jolt for the NCA medical team. They have been working on him for over a year. They have one of the best workload management systems in place. The medical team is trying its best to put him back in the park soon,” the source added.
After the T20I series against Bangladesh, India will next face New Zealand across three Tests between October 16 and November 5 following which they will leave for Australia.
