With less than eight weeks remaining before the commencement of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth, Rohit Sharma and his team have suffered a crushing blow as one of their star pacers has developed a new injury concern that threatens to keep him out of the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The knee injury of Mohammed Shami is reported to have aggravated again, even as he was recovering for a competitive play to return with the Ranji Trophy for Bengal. Since the extraordinary display of talent exhibited at the 2023 ODI World Cup, in which he was on the losing end to Australia in the final match, Shami has played no form of cricket.
Shami is reported to have received injections during the ODI World Cup, which was attributed to an ankle injury and managed by the BCCI medical staff, before the decision was made to operate Shami. The surgery compounded the issues by Shami since he also could not participate in the South African tour or the five-match Test series against England at home, the IPL 2024, and the T20 World Cup 2024 which India lifted.
Earlier, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had expressed optimism regarding Shami returning to full fitness ahead of the Bangladesh Test series, which ended on Tuesday with India winning 2-0. It was, however, the case for the 34-year-old, who completed his rehabilitation, and will now be looking at red-ball cricket as a way of making his return.
However, this injury concern comes as a setback as well.
“Shami had resumed bowling and he was looking on track to make a comeback to competitive cricket soon. But this knee injury has flared up recently. BCCI’s medical team is assessing the injury but it may require quite a bit of time,” a BCCI source told The Times of India.
“It’s a surprise to the medical team
of the NCA. They have been attending to him for over a year. They have one of the best work load management systems in place. The medical team is trying its best to rehabilitate him back to the park as soon as possible,” added the source.
After completing the T20I series against Bangladesh, India’s New Zealand tour will begin with a Test series comprising three matches from October 16 to November 5, before they head to Australia.
