India captain Rohit Sharma stated that he is awaiting feedback from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru about Mohammed Shami‘s fitness ahead of the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar (BGT) 2024-25 series in Australia.
Rohit emphasized that Shami is dealing with knee issues and expressed concern about the pacer getting injured again after his year-long comeback. The 37-year-old also acknowledged that Shami has become a regular fixture for Bengal in domestic cricket.
Rohit’s comments came days after rumors of a rift between the two players over Shami’s fitness. The skipper shared his thoughts during the post-match press conference following the third Test in Brisbane on Wednesday, December 18.
“I think it’s high time somebody from NCA talked about him. That’s our national cricket academy where he is rehabing. Those guys are the ones who need to come up and give us some kind of update.”
“But look, I understand he’s playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. The last thing you want is the player coming here and then pulling out in the middle of the game. You know what happens when that kind of thing happens.”
“There’s no way we want to take that chance unless we are like, not a hundred percent, 200 hundred percent sure. We’re not going to take any risk. But yeah, like I said in the last press conference, the door is open. If those guys at the NCA feel that he’s okay to go and recovered, and play, I will be happy to have him,” he added.
Mohammed Shami included in Bengal squad for the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy
Mohammed Shami has been included in the Bengal squad for the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The 34-year-old recently claimed 11 wickets in nine matches with an economy rate of 6.03 in the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Earlier this year, Shami made his return to competitive cricket 360 days after suffering an ankle injury during the 2023 World Cup. He took seven wickets in a Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh and also scored 37 runs in the second innings, helping his team secure an 11-run victory.
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