Team India continues to deal with massive blows in its preparation for the away England tour starting June 20 in Leeds. While they are already without their premier batters and former captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, owing to their Test retirements, they will also be without ace quick Mohammed Shami for the challenging England Tests.
While Shami is fit to bowl for SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the remaining league phase games, an ESPNcricinfo report suggests that he has not built up the necessary workload for Tests, having not played one since losing the last World Test Championship (WTC) Final to Australia in June 2023.
The report read that a BCCI medical staff member travelled to Lucknow this week to assess Shami ahead of SRH’s game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB); it remains unclear if the selectors have made up their minds about Shami’s selection, but they are likely to play safe and keep him in reserves unless a favourable report from the medical team comes out.
Shami, 34, missed out on over one year of cricket following the home ODI World Cup final in 2023 due to several injuries, the ankle one to begin with. Though Shami recovered from that in February 2024, but began experiencing pain in his right knee, for which he has been undergoing treatment since.
Shami returned to the cricket field late last year in the Ranji Trophy but took his time before returning to the Indian Team for the 2025 Champions Trophy, leading the pace attack in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence. He fared well in the eight-team tournament, helping India lift the trophy for the record third time.
But what that knee pain did to him was hinder his plan to increase his workloads towards Test cricket levels. That, however, made the selectors think twice about having him onboard for the away England Tests.
Trending Stories
Shami before and after injury
Before getting injured, Shami was the leading run-scorer in the ODI WC, returning with 23 wickets in just seven matches, helping India reach the finale. His semi-heroics, wherein he returned with seven wickets against New Zealand at the Wankhede, had everyone cheering for him. That, however, was the beginning of the end of his brilliant run, as injuries marred his career soon after.
Fast forward to IPL 2025, Shami hasn’t been at his best at SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). He played in nine of the 13 contested matches, picking just six wickets, averaging 56.16, and at an economy rate of 11.23.
