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New Delhi, India
Ahead of India's home Tests versus New Zealand, which kicks off on Wednesday (Oct 16), Rohit Sharma addressed the media and spoke at length about Mohammed Shami's injury status. Shami has not played for India since the 2023 ODI World Cup, where he ended as the leading wicket-taker (24). The pacer was in the recovery process but has suffered swelling in his knees, missing the NZ series. On Tuesday (Oct 15), Hitman admitted that the experienced speedster is uncertain about the five-match Test series versus Australia, in Australia, later this year.
'It is difficult to make a call on him for the Australia series'
Before the opening day of the first Test versus the Kiwis, in Bengaluru, India captain Rohit discussed Shami in the pre-match presser. He said, "To be honest, it is difficult to make a call on him for the Australia series. He had a setback and had swelling in his knees. That put him back a little bit and had to start again. He’s at the NCA with doctors and physios. We don’t want to bring undercooked Shami to Australia. We are keeping our fingers crossed."
Also read: Ind vs NZ, 1st Test: Will rain play spoilsport on opening day in Bengaluru? All you need to know
Shami played the ODI WC despite having ankle issues. Since then, he has missed a plethora of cricket due to an ankle and knee injury. He wasn't part of India's tour of South Africa, which happened soon after the home ODI WC. Further, the 34-year-old also missed the England home Tests, the T20 World Cup, the Sri Lanka white-ball tour and the Bangladesh series, where hosts India whitewashed the Bangla Tigers in two Tests. He is out of the NZ series and his participation in the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 edition remains under dark clouds.
After hosting NZ in three Tests, India's next red-ball assignment is in Australia, which kicks off on Nov 22 in Perth. It will be interesting to see if Shami features in the latter half of the series. The wily pacer has 229, 195 and 24 wickets in Tests, ODIs and T20Is, respectively.