Reports: Mohammed Shami expected to make comeback against New Zealand at home

As per recent reports, team India’s management is in no rush to make ace pacer Mohammed Shami make a comeback in the side, as their top priority is to have the 33-year-old fit and fresh for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–25.

It is worth noting that the chances of Shami’s inclusion in India’s upcoming series against Bangladesh are very low. The star pacer has continued to build on his fitness, and the rehabilitation process after his ankle surgery in February is well on track as well. 

It has been revealed that Mohammed Shami has been targeting the Ranji Trophy opener on October 11 as the match where he will make his return. If he manages to make his return in the Ranji Trophy, Shami could be available for the second or third Test against New Zealand at home, which is right after the Bangladesh series.

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Mohammed Shami has yet to play a game of cricket since the ODI World Cup 2023 final in November. He underwent several months of rehab at the NCA; he opted for the surgery, and as many as six months after the surgery, Shami has been preparing for his comeback. 

Furthermore, towards the end of July 2024, Shami started to bowl again at the NCA, which raised hopes of his inclusion in the Duleep Trophy. However, due to not regaining full fitness, he was not selected in any of the squads. According to various sources, once Shami starts to bowl regularly to the batters in the nets, he will be included in the practice matches at the NCA.

“Since he hasn’t played in a while, he has to be integrated smoothly into the system. With Bumrah, we had the T20s in Ireland, which allowed us to increase his workload gradually. But with Shami, we are talking about Test cricket, where he has to bowl long spells. It will be a step-by-step process and Australia tour is the ultimate goal,” a source in the know was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.