Mohammed Shami To Return For England Series: Reports

Mohammed Shami is all set to return to the Indian squad after a long layoff due to injury. He last played for India in the ODI World Cup 2023 and since then was out of the team with injury concerns.

To prove his match fitness, Shami will play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-final at the Moti Bagh stadium on Thursday. In the second quarter-final of the day, Rajasthan will take on Tamil Badu in the Kotambi stadium of Vadodara.

Shami's return could be a pivotal moment for Indian cricket with Jasprit Bumrah likely to miss the England home series with injury concerns. He bowled almost 165 overs in the Test series against Australia before pulling up on the second and third day of the Sydney.

According to a report in Cricbuzz the medical team of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) continues to keep a close eye on Shami’s fitness and could be available for India selection if all goes well. This might mark his international return after more than a year.

Shami was closely monitored during Bengal’s group-stage matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament. Recently, an NCA physio oversaw Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya in Hyderabad.

“As stated by the BCCI, Shami is under close observation by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) medical team, with at least one NCA physio or trainer accompanying him wherever he goes. There were a couple of them in Rajkot where Shami played in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and recently, an NCA physio was spotted overseeing both Shami and Hardik Pandya in Hyderabad" the Cricbuzz report stated.

Mohammed Shami Missed BGT Due To Swelling On Left Knee

In February 2024, Shami underwent a surgery on his right heel and recovered from the surgery in December. However, the 35-year-old sustained a minor swelling in his left knee, which eventually ruled him out of the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His absence inceased the workload on Jasprit Bumrah who ultimately succumbed to injury by the time the series ended.

Talking about the India-England series, both teams will play a five-match T20I series starting from January 22. This will be followed by three ODI matches on February 6 (Nagpur), February 9 (Cuttack) and February 12 (Ahmedabad) respectively.