''He’s Been Sitting in the NCA'' – Former Indian Head Coach Questions Mohammed Shami’s Absence in Border Gavaskar Trophy

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri was baffled by the way the whole situation around Indian pacer Mohammed Shami was handled. Shami had surgery on his Achilles tendon in February 2024 and has been recovering at the NCA through his rehabilitation. However, he could not recover completely in time to play any part in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. 

Shastri claimed that had he been in a position of power he would have flown in Mohammed Shami to continue his rehabilitation with the team itself. 

“To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Mohammed Shami. Where is he when it comes to recovery? He's been sitting in the NCA for I don't know how long. Why can't proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia," Shastri said on The ICC Review

“I would have kept him part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team. And then if we thought by the third Test match that no, this guy can't play the rest of the series, I would let him go," he added.

Mohammed Shami made a comeback during the Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh and performed well. It seemed like he would be a part of at least the final two Tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy given the fact that he had been performing well and playing continuously for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy as well as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. 

However, Rohit Sharma, during one of the press conferences, revealed that Shami had been dealing with swelling in his knee. He also lamented about the lack of clarity from the NCAS about Mohammed Shami’s fitness. The clarity came a bit later as the BCCI medical team adjudged Shami as unfit to join the Indian squad for the final two Tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. 

Things would have been completely different had Mohammed Shami been in Australia: Ricky Ponting 

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting also expressed his surprise at Mohammed Shami playing no part in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. He believes had Shami been a part of the Indian contingent alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, the scoreline of 3-1 could have been different. 

"I was really surprised when he wasn't flown out even halfway through the series, two Test matches in. India's make-up obviously had Nitish Reddy there. So you had another seam bowling all-rounder anyway," Ponting said on ICC Review.

“So if Shami, even if he wasn't fully fit, if he had to bowl fewer overs in a day, you had a backup seam bowling option to help him out and I think he could have been the difference. If Shami, Bumrah and Siraj were in their starting team, I think things could have been completely different here in Australia," he added.

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