Indian star pacer Mohammed Shami could miss out on the first two Tests against England as the five-match Test series between the nations gets underway on the 25th of January.
Shami suffered an ankle injury, and according to sources close to the development, is yet to resume bowling.
“Shami hasn’t even started to bowl, he will have to go to NCA and prove his fitness. He looks doubtful for the first two Tests against England. Whereas in Yadav’s case he will take more time than expected. After his hernia operation it might take up to eight-nine weeks for him to start training. Hopefully he will be fit during the IPL,” a source said as quoted by IE.
The Englishmen arrive on Indian soil to play five Tests early in the year as the opening test is scheduled to take place at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
The second Test, slated to be held at the Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam will begin on the 2nd of February and Shami is expected to miss both the games.
Shami’s name was included in the squad for the Test series against South Africa, but his participation was subject to fitness.
It is understood that the BCCI will not rush to bring in Shami before he recovers complete fitness with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to spearhead the pace department in the absence of the 33-year-old at the home series against the Englishmen.
Shami produced a dream performance at the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, which the men in blue ultimately lost in the final despite an unbeaten run of 11 games in the lead-up to the summit clash against Australia.
The 33-year-old ended the tournament as the highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets in 7 games to claim the golden ball in a memorable tournament that witnessed Rohit Sharma and Co. deliver one awe-inspiring performance after another before falling unceremoniously at the final hurdle.
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