Shami has been completely sidelined ever since the Champions Trophy 2025.
Veteran pacer Mohammad Shami continues to remain out of the Indian team. The 35-year-old was ignored once again as the BCCI announced India’s squad for the upcoming two-Test series against Sri Lanka on Tuesday (July 28).
Shami’s last appearance for India was in March 2025 in an ODI match. Despite toiling hard and proving his fitness in the 2025-26 domestic season, he failed to earn a national call-up.
Amid the repeated snubs, a report published in Sportstar claims that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has zeroed in on a pool of 15 young fast bowlers across all three formats to gain international exposure early, signaling the practical end of Shami’s international career.
According to the report, rather than looking back at senior options, the management is actively prioritizing long-term depth to build a sustainable pace unit for the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle and the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The transition is actively underway, with younger pacers like Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Anshul Kamboj taking over major responsibilities across formats. Recently, Prince Yadav, Gurnoor Brar and Yash Thakur were handed debut India caps.
Recently, former BCCI chief selector Kris Srikkanth slammed the India team management for ignoring Mohammad Shami across formats.
"Prince Yadav is also a good bowler, along with Gurnoor Brar and Mohsin Khan. These three should not be written off. They could make the World Cup squad as 15 months is still a long way off. But Shami was an outstanding bowler. I am surprised the management has turned him into a nobody," Srikkanth said on Star Sports.