Mohammed Shami snubs Gautam Gambhir, names Ravi Shastri as favourite India coach

In a series of diplomatic events, experienced India pacer Mohammed Shami, who has been out of the selectors' consideration despite proving his worth over the past few months. The star speedster has not been picked in any of India's squads across Tests, ODIs or T20Is. However, Shami has secured a place in the East Zone squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2026, which is set to take place later this month.

Mohammed Shami's favorite India coach

Shami, who has secured 229 wickets in Test cricket and 206 in ODIs, last played for the Men in Blue during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign under Rohit Sharma. In a recent interaction, the West Bengal-based pacer was questioned to pick his favorite head coach from his international career.

Notably, Shami did not include current India head coach Gautam Gambhir among his choices. However, Shami backed up his choice with certain strong points, as he said that he did not play much under Gambhir. At the end, Shami ended up picking Ravi Shastri as his favorite, saying that he enjoyed a lot playing under him, as Shastri gave him full freedom as a player to express his aggression through his bowling.

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“It’s a bit difficult to compare… I haven’t played much under Gauti bhai. I’ve spent a good amount of time with Rahul bhai and Anil bhai. But if I have to choose one out of these four, I would choose Ravi bhai. Because of that freedom… that aggression you see in a player when they go out to fight and play a match, you can see that from the outside (with his coaching),” said Shami to Times Now Navbharat.

How Mohammed Shami fared for LSG in IPL 2026?

In IPL 2026, Mohammed Shami represented Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after being acquired for Rs 10 crore via trade from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In 13 outings, Shami managed to take 12 scalps at an economy rate of 9.85 with a bowling average of 32.83. He recorded his best bowling figure of 2/9 in a league game against SRH.