Shami is set to miss the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. (Reuters)
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald labelled the absence of Mohammed Shami during the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy next month as a huge loss for India, but stressed that the hosts will not under-estimate India’s back-up quicks.
Shami, who had played a significant role in India’s successful 2018 tour of Australia, has not played since the ODI World Cup final last November due to an ankle injury. While the 34-year-old is hitting the final laps of his recovery, Shami was not named in India’s 18-member squad announced on Friday night for the tour Down Under.
Shami underwent surgery and was subsequently rehabilitating at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) but developed swelling in his knees which affected his rehabilitation.
“Mohammed Shami is a big loss,” McDonald was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo on ABC’s Offsiders.
“The way our batters speak about his relentless nature, his line and lengths, the way he goes about his business, a real good complimenting skill set to Bumrah so think that one-two combo they’ll lack a little bit, and they’ll miss that.”
India have handed maiden call ups to Delhi speedster Harshit Rana and Andhra seam bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy while quicks Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna have also been selected for the marquee series. Jasprit Bumrah will lead the fast bowling department.
During their historic 2020-21 tour to Australia, India had lost the services of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav for the last two Tests. Fielding a relatively young attack, India secured a draw and won the final Test in Brisbane to mark their second consecutive series triumph in Australia.
“But needless to say we saw what happened last time, they had reserves that came in and did the job as well so they cannot be underestimated at all,” he added.
The Indian Express understands that Shami is due to prove his match-fitness by returning to action in the fourth and fifth rounds of the Ranji Trophy for Bengal in early November.
Shami is likely to join the Bengal team in Bengaluru ahead of their match against Karnataka, starting from November 6. The speedster is also tipped to play in the next match in Indore against Madhya Pradesh.
“He is not available for this match (vs Kerala), but we are hopeful that Shami will join us for games against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh,” Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla had told The Indian Express.
– With PTI inputs
