As the buzz around Mohammed Shami joining Rohit Sharma-led side in Australia for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy is getting higher, the star Indian pacer rescued Bengal with a stunning performance with his bat during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024 pre-quarterfinal match between Bengal and Chandigarh. As per recent reports, Shami is just waiting for the clearance from NCA and this very well could be his final match here before he takes a flight to the land down under.
Shami wreaks havoc with bat
Mohammed Shami recorded his highest-ever T20 score and ensured Bengal now has something to fight for. The top order wasted wickets due to their poor shot selection. They appeared to fold for about 130. However, Shami smashed 32 runs off just 17 balls and helped them post 159 runs on the board. The last over of their innings saw 19 runs, and 18 of them came from Shami's bat.
Rohit Sharma on Shami joining team in BGT
Following Australia's victory in the second Test match to tie the five-Test series, Indian captain Rohit Sharma provided a significant update on Mohammed Shami's fitness. When Shami was playing for Bengal in the current Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024, Rohit said that he had acquired swelling in his knee.
"That door is very much open. But we are just monitoring him. Because while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali, he again got some swelling in his knee. Which obviously hampers his preparation to come and play a Test match. We want to be very, very careful," Rohit said.
"We don't want to bring him here in a situation and he plays and then he pulls up sore or something happens. We want to be more than 100% sure with him. Because it's been such a long time that he has not played cricket. And to be fair to him, we don't want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team. So, there are some professionals who are monitoring him" said Rohit in post match press conference.
There are reports stating that Shami might be available for selection in the final two Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests as there is not much time for the Gabba Test, his participation in the third Test of the series is highly unlikely.
