Star Indian pacer Mohammed Shami is yet to recover from the dreaded COVID-19 and the right-arm pacer now faces the likelihood of missing the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. The 32-year-old paceman tested positive for the virus just a couple of days before India's recently-concluded home series against Australia. As a result of a positive test, Shami missed all three matches against the Baggy Greens.
"Mohammed Shami is yet to recover from COVID-19 and will most likely miss the T20I series against South Africa," a source told Sports Tak on the condition of anonymity.
"He hasn't recovered yet and is not in Trivandrum. The medical team is monitoring his condition and hopefully, he will recover before the team leaves for Australia for the T20 World Cup," the source added.
Shami has been named as a reserve in India's T20 World Cup squad and one could only hope that the veteran pacer regains full fitness before the multi-national tournament kick-off on October 16.
The right-arm seamer was also named in India's squad for the three-match T20I series against South Africa but COVID-19 is likely to keep him away from cricket for more time than expected. The series between India and South Africa gets underway on September 28 (Wednesday).
It's also important to note that Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik Pandya will not be a part of the series against the Proteas as they are scheduled to report at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore for workload management. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh will return to the squad for the upcoming series.
