Shami is still recovering from an ankle injury that prevented him from touring South Africa.
While batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have returned to the T20I side for the first time since November 2022, premier fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammad Shami don’t feature in the squad.
Considering the upcoming five-Test series against Afghanistan, Bumrah and Siraj have been rested. On the other hand, Shami is still recovering from an ankle injury that prevented him from touring South Africa recently.
According to a TOI report, the Indian team management and selectors are seeking clarity about Shami's white-ball future and the BCCI is looking to have a discussion with the star pacer about his future plans.
"There will be a discussion with Shami to know what he wants to do going ahead. He has taken a lot of workload in the last few years. This discussion was supposed to happen in South Africa. Since he didn't travel with the team, the management and selectors will talk to him very soon," TOI quoted a BCCI source as saying.
"It has to be clear how much cricket he wants to play beyond the IPL and Test matches."
The report claimed that the team management is looking to zero in on its bowling attack for the upcoming T20 World Cup soon.
At 33, there have been doubts over Shami participating in all forms of the game. Notably, he was not in the T20I scheme of things in the last few years until he was named in the T20 World Cup 2022 squad at the last minute.
India’s T20I pace attack currently looks to be settled with Bumrah, Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya in the mix. With Mukesh Kumar performing well, India's backup option seems to be ready as well. In that case, it will be up to Shami to take a call.
(With TOI Inputs)