Shami last played T20Is in early 2025 against England.
Veteran India pacer Mohammad Shami has challenged critics questioning his T20I suitability, citing his exceptional IPL performance over the past 5-6 years.
Claiming around 130 wickets in that period, Shami argued no Indian bowler comes "close" to his record, questioning the narrative that he is not a premier T20 bowler.
Shami last played T20Is in early 2025 against England, where he was called up after an extended injury hiatus, but has since been largely overlooked in favor of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh.
Following an injury to Harshit Rana just before the T20 World Cup 2026, the selectors and Indian team management preferred Mohammed Siraj over Shami, continuing a trend of ignoring him in the shortest format.
“I don’t think anyone needs to count the numbers," Shami said while speaking on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube Podcast.
“I believe if you have the talent and the skill, why judge by the numbers? If you are performing for your team on any and every platform, then you are not inferior to anybody. About the IPL, you can pick up the records, agar koi Indian bowler mere aas paas bhi ho toh (if you can find any Indian bowler who’s even close to me), even then I am ‘not a T20 bowler’. It’s okay. In the last five-six years, I have 130 wickets. What more do you want?" he added.
Shami, who featured in India's T20 World Cup squads in 2021 and 2022, was in great form in the 2025-26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, taking 16 wickets in seven matches. However, it wasn’t enough to impress the selectors.
When asked if a lack of invested Public Relations (PR) and social media hype was a reason behind him not being selected for the Indian T20I side, Shami replied with a ‘Maybe’.
“PR matters a lot. Several companies do it. But you can’t change luck. I believe in luck. Maybe someone can stop me for some time, maybe it’ll be beneficial for me if I don’t get a few games. Maybe if I had played, my performances wouldn’t have gone well. So I try to see these things in a positive way, even when they seem negative," he said.
Shami is set to lead the Lucknow Super Giants bowling attack in the ongoing IPL season after being traded from Sunrisers Hyderabad.