Indian pacer Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-2025 due to a knee injury. Shami, who was recovering from an injury sustained during the ODI World Cup 2023, suffered a setback during his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA). Mohammed Shami, along with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, forms a formidable pace trio. However, with Shami's absence and Siraj's recent form, India's pace attack appears slightly weakened.
Australia coach feels India will struggle in Mohammed Shami's absence in Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Australia's coach, Andrew McDonald, acknowledged that Shami's absence would be a significant loss for India, highlighting his impact on the team.
"Mohammed Shami is a big loss. The way our batters speak about his relentless nature, his line and lengths, the way he goes about his business, a real good complimenting skill set to Bumrah so think that one-two combo they'll lack a little bit, and they'll miss that," McDonald was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo on ABC's Offsiders.
India has included uncapped players Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy in their squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The team also has a strong pace bowling attack comprising Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, and Prasidh Krishna. While Australia's coach, Andrew McDonald, acknowledged that Shami's absence would be a significant loss for India, he cautioned against underestimating the potential of India's reserve pacers.
"But needless to say we saw what happened last time, they had reserves that came in and did the job as well so they cannot be underestimated at all," he added.
Can Mohammed Shami still be included in India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy?
There's still a possibility that Mohammed Shami could make a comeback to the Indian Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. According to recent reports, Shami is expected to return to competitive cricket on November 6th, playing two Ranji Trophy matches against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. If Shami can successfully demonstrate his match fitness during these matches, he may have a chance to be considered for selection in the Indian team.
India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Travelling reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed.
