Shami made his much-awaited return to competitive cricket earlier this week.
Shami made his much-awaited return to competitive cricket earlier this week as he represented Bengal in the Ranji Trophy fixture against Madhya Pradesh. This was Shami's first match since the ODI World Cup final in November last year, after recovering from an ankle injury.
The right-arm quick instantly made an impact, returning with seven wickets in the match. He also registered his highest First-Class score for Bengal, scoring 37 off 36 balls in the second innings.
"Yeah, I will send him to Australia. He doesn't need to play the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. I'll send him to Australia, even if he misses the Perth Test. He keeps bowling, he should be on the flight, he has bowled today as well. He should be on the next flight to Australia," Ganguly told RevSportz.
While Shami was not named in the squad announced for the Australia tour, his childhood coach Mohammed Badruddin hoped for his return midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“He will be joining the Indian team after the Adelaide (second) Test. Now that he is back, proved his fitness, picked up wickets, he will be crucial for the team in the second half of the tour,” Shami told The Indian Express.
Ganguly also expects Prasidh Krishna to start ahead of Akash Deep in the first Test, slate to get underway on November 22 in Perth.
"He (Shami) may miss the Perth Test, but that will be bowling friendly conditions. I think Prasidh will play ahead of Akash Deep, because of the height and conditions. So, Shami should be on the flight and should be ready to play the Adelaide Test," said Ganguly.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar