Senior Team India fast bowler Mohammed Shami is all set to make a comeback into the Test for the third and fourth Test against England. Along with Shami, young fast bowler Navdeep Saini is also likely to make a comeback to the side after skipping Delhi’s T20 and One Day campaign to remain fresh for international cricket.
Meanwhile, Shami copped a blow on his arm during the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Subsequently, he was ruled out of the entire Test series and returned to India to nurse his injury. On the other hand, Navdeep Saini suffered a groin injury during the last Test in Brisbane.
Mohammed Shami to join India squad
Both of them returned to training last week at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and is all set to join the Indian side in Ahmedabad, which will be the host for the third and fourth match of the series. The team management has asked Mohammed Shami and Navdeep Saini to not play the Vijay Hazare one-day tournament from Feb 20.
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The selectors are slated to announce the team for the next two Tests after the second Test ends in Chennai. The selectors may also announce the squad for the five-match T20I series that follows the Tests. Mohammed Shami had resumed bowling 10 days ago and is close to attaining match fitness.
“Saini is currently at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He has bowling at full tilt. The Delhi selectors wanted to have his services for the Vijay Hazare Trophy but Saini was asked to stay back at NCA as he is likely to join the team in Ahmedabad,” a BCCI source told TOI.
Meanwhile, the selection committee is planning to form a pool of T20I specialists for the upcoming T20 World Cup scheduled to take place later this year in India, a report in TOI suggests. Players like Ishan Kishan, Nitish Rana, and Sidharth Kaul will be part of the pool and as a reason, they recently turned up at the NCA to attain a fitness test.
“This is the reason they were asked to report NCA for fitness tests. These players have been informed that they will be in standbys for the India T20I team. This is the reason why Rana wasn’t made the captain of the Delhi team for the Vijay Hazare tournament. These players could be called into Indian team anytime. They will be essentially appearing for trials,” the source added.
