Is it going to become an end of the road for Mohammed Shami in Test cricket after being snubbed in the 18-member Indian squad for the forthcoming five-Test series against England?
Shami’s exclusion from the team seems to have drawn attention especially as India will be without a pacer in English condition who is a present-day master in reverse swing.
Shami last played a Test match in 2023, featuring in India’s World Test Championship Final loss to Australia at the Oval.
Shami has since undergone surgery and returned to the national team with the ODIs, but his form and fitness have been unconvincing. He has been part of India’s last three Test tours of England, in 2014, 2018 and 2021. However, his performance with ball in England are not great, averaging 40 with 42 wickets in 14 matches. He picked 16 in 5 Tests in 2018.
“He’s had a little bit of a setback over the past week, got some MRIs done. Wasn’t going to be able to play five Tests. Don’t think his workload is where he needs to be. Medical guys told them he’ll be ruled out. We were hoping he’ll play some part, but if he’s not fit, we’d rather pick guys fit and available rather than waiting,” Ajit Agarkar said in his press conference.
Shami was dropped by Sunrisers Hyderabad midway through IPL 2025. Agarkar confirms the veteran has faced a fresh injury. The BCCI already had concerns regarding his workload, with doubts about his ability to bowl. With seaming conditions in England, pacers will be required to bowl longer spells, and his fitness to last in a 5-day was unknown.
The exclusion seems to have given a signal to Shami that it would be not possible for him to return to the national squad as Gautam Gambhir has expressed that he likes to rely on the new generation of pacers, with Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep, and Prasidh Krishna filling in for Shami.
Since making his debut in 2013, Shami has featured in 64 Tests picking up 229 wickets. At 34, a comeback to the Test team seems unlikely for the veteran pacer. The Bengal pacer was hopeful of featuring in the Indian team for the England tour. But at the same time, he admitted that he needed to increase his workload.
“I’m trying my best, doing hard work, performing strength exercises, attending practice sessions regularly, delivering maximum numbers of balls in the nets, and managing my workload as much as possible. The workload needs to be increased for red-ball cricket,” Shami said speaking to TOI.
