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Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has slammed those who have been doing fast bowler Mohammed Shami's injury management that prevented him from boarding the flight to Australia for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Shastri said that he would've continued his rehabilation in Australia and then taken a call whether he should play or not. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting echoed Shastri's sentiments and went on to say that he predicted his team's outright victory in the series only because Shami wasn't named in the squad.
“Absolutely, there's no question about that,” Shastri said on ICC review as he was asked whether Shami's presence could've made a difference.
“To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Mohammed Shami.
“Where is he when it comes to recovery? He's been sitting in the NCA for I don't know how long. Why can't proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia.”
Shastri said that he wouldn't have left Shami in India and taken a call on his participation midway through the series. He feels that the physios in Australia could have helped him as well.
“I would have kept him part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team,” Shastri added.
“And then if we thought by the third Test match that no, this guy can't play the rest of the series, I would let him go.
“But I would have brought him with the team, kept him, monitored him with the best of the physios and best of the advice even from international physios who are in Australia and seeing how he went. But I would have kept him in the mix.”
Ponting would've changed his prediction had Shami been in Australia
Ponting said that he was surprised when Shami wasn't called halfway into the series even if he bowled fewer overs than usual.
“I was really surprised when he wasn't flown out even halfway through the series, two Test matches in,” Ponting told The ICC Review as well.
“India's make-up obviously had Nitish Reddy there. So you had another seam bowling all-rounder anyway.
“So if Shami, even if he wasn't fully fit, if he had to bowl fewer overs in a day, you had a backup seam bowling option to help him out and I think he could have been the difference.
“When you asked me (in an earlier The ICC Review) at the start about what I thought the result would be, I said 3-1 Australia because Shami wasn't there. That was the first thing I said. That's how important I felt he was to India.
“If Shami, Bumrah and Siraj were in their starting team, I think things could have been completely different here in Australia.”
Shami, the perfect supporting man for in-form Bumrah
Shastri gave Pat Cummins-led pace attack's example and how he got the right support from Scott Boland. He did not blame Mohammed Siraj but said that Shami and Jasprit Bumrah bowling in tandem could have raised the bar.
“It got so tight at 1-1 going into Melbourne,” he said.
“You just needed that experience and support. For all you know, he might have raised the bar as well. And it would have been the two guys there (Bumrah and Shami).
“Pat Cummins couldn't have done it on his own, Scotty Boland had to step in. So you needed a bowler of his experience. You know, as hard as Mohammed Siraj tried, you needed Shami's experience there.”
Shami bowling with white-ball in domestic cricket
Since his return to cricket after recovering from foot surgery, Shami played just one red-ball game where he proved his worth. After representing Bengal in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), he is currently playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2025. It is yet to be seen whether he gets named in the ODI squad for home series against England next month. BCCI medical team said that Shami did not make into the Test squad as he has issues with his knee.
