India skipper Rohit Sharma chose to duck questions about pacer Mohammad Shami’s availability for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, stating that only the National Cricket Academy (NCA) could provide clarity on his fitness.
Speculations were rife that Shami will feature in the last two Tests of the five-match series. The senior pacer has not played for India since his appearance in the ODI World Cup final in November last year.
Shami underwent an operation on his Achilles tendon earlier this year, and then had an extended rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. He recently made his return to competitive action through the Ranji Trophy and also represented Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
However, there is no clarity yet from the BCCI regarding his return to the national team for the ongoing tour Down Under.
Addressing the press conference, Rohit emphasized that the NCA would need to certify Shami’s readiness before any decision could be made about his inclusion in the Test squad.
"I think it's high time somebody from NCA talked about him. That's our national cricket academy where he is rehabing. Those guys are the ones who need to come up and give us some kind of update. But look, I understand he's playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. The last thing you want is the player coming here and then pulling out in the middle of the game. You know what happens when that kind of thing happens," Rohit told reporters after the Gabba Test ended in a draw on Wednesday (December 18).
"There's no way we want to take that chance unless we are like, not a hundred percent, 200 hundred percent sure. We're not going to take any risk. But yeah, like I said in the last press conference, the door is open. If those guys at the NCA feel that he's okay to go and recovered, and play, I will be happy to have him," he added.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Shami has made himself available for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy (domestic one-day tournament). This development indicates that he is not joining the Indian team anytime soon.
Recently, news agency PTI reported that Shami himself "feels" he is not ready to take the rigours of red-ball cricket right now and the right-arm quick may choose to preserve himself for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the subsequent Indian Premier League season for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
"The swelling seems to come and go. He himself is keen on playing more and more domestic cricket and hence the possibility of him once again playing Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal looks imminent at the moment.
"He can then bowl at least three spells and 10 overs per game," a BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
"Shami is at the business end of his career. What if his knee acts up badly in Australia after a long spell? He will have to field on hard grounds. He missed the last IPL due to ankle surgery.
"This time, he has a hefty Rs 10 crore deal with SRH. You can't blame him if he wants to preserve himself for white ball format for now," the source added.
