India’s star pacer Mohammad Shami has been out of competitive action since the ODI World Cup final in November last year.

Shami underwent an operation on his Achilles tendon earlier this year. As a result, he missed the home Test series against England, followed by the IPL and the T20 World Cup.

Though Shami has recovered from the ankle injury, he is taking a measured approach to his return, refraining from bowling at full tilt just yet.

While it has been reported that Shami will make his much-awaited return during the home Test series against Bangladesh next month, the right-arm quick is still not sure when he would be able to wear the India jersey again.

Shami has decided to ply his trade in domestic cricket for Bengal before making the India comeback.

“It’s difficult to say when I will be back. I am trying hard but hopefully you will get to see me in Bengal colours before I don the India jersey again,” Shami said while being felicitated by the East Bengal club in Kolkata, as quoted by TOI.

“I will come to play two-three matches for Bengal and will come fully prepared for it,” he added.

The 33-year-old fast bowler also revealed that his injury turned worse the World Cup 2023, where he finished as the leading wicket-taker.

“We never thought the injury would be this serious. The plan was to address it after the T20 World Cup since we had the IPL and the ICC T20 mega event coming almost back-to-back after last year’s World Cup. But it turned worse during the ODI World Cup itself and I also did not find it right to risk playing on with it,” he recalled.

“Even the doctors could not fathom that the injury will take such a serious turn and will take so much time to heal,” the pacer said.

Shami, who watched India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph sitting at home, admitted that he was nervous in the final match against South Africa.

“To tell you frankly, I got tense when South Africa were pulling things back in the final. For a moment memories of our 2023 WC final loss returned to haunt me. But luckily Suryakumar Yadav took that great catch to fetch us the Cup and it took time to sink in that India have actually won it,” he stated.

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, who was also honoured in the function, heaped praise on Shami’s exceptional talent.

“I am actually surprised to see Shami has played only 101 ODI matches. Somebody with his calibre and talent should have played many more,” Ganguly said.

The former BCCI President also recalled seeing Shami first while playing for Bengal in late 2000s. “Laxmi (Ratan Shukla) was the Bengal skipper then and I immediately told him that this boy (Shami) is an exceptional talent. I am happy to see him converting that talent into performance,” he added.

“It’s said that (Jasprit) Bumrah is the best pacer, but Bumrah has become the best because he got Shami at the other end. So you have pressure from both ends,” Ganguly remarked.

(With TOI Inputs)