Veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami has taken a veil dig on the selectors after he wasn't given a place in the squad for the upcoming white-ball tour against Australia. This comes after the 35-year-old has been repeatedly snubbed from international assignments by the Indian team management since the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Shami revealed that the team management didn't communicate with him regarding his fitness and emphasised that if he fit enough to play red-ball cricket, then he can very well feature in limited format games as well. Notably, the pacer has been selected in Bengal's squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season and will be playing under the leadership of Abhimanyu Easwaran.
"The Indian team didn't communicate with me regarding fitness. I am not the one who would inform them about my fitness - they have to ask me. If I can play four-day cricket, then why can't I play a 50-over game? If I wasn't fit, I'd be at the NCA and not playing here in the Ranji Trophy," Shami said as quoted by India Today.
Agarkar's comments on Shami
However, Shami's remarks are in contrast to the comments that selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar made about him while announcing India's squad for the Australia tour. He had stated that there was no update regarding the pacer's fitness and had added that the 35-year-old will have to play more cricket in order to be eligible for selection.
"I have no update. He has played in the Duleep trophy. But in the last two-three years, he hasn't played a lot of cricket. I think he played one game for Bengal and one in the Duleep trophy. As a performer, we know what he can do, but he has to play cricket," Agarkar had said.
Meanwhile, Shami's last international appearance came in the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand. Even though he finished as the Men in Blue's joint-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with nine scalps in five matches, the team management decided to ignore him for future assignments. It is clear that Shami wants to make his comeback to international cricket and has opted for the domestic route in order to do so. He will be hoping to impress in Bengal's opening match of the Ranji Trophy that will be against Uttarakhand and will commence from October 15.