Former India cricketer and current selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar revealed that Mohammed Shami wasn't able to make the cut for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy due to fitness issues. The 35-year-old pacer hasn't made any appearance for the Men in Blue since the Champions Trophy final against New Zealand. He did feature in nine matches in IPL 2025 and also played a match for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy.
After being snubbed from India's squad for the upcoming white-ball tour against Australia, Shami expressed his disappointment and pointed out that if he had fitness issues, then he wouldn't be featuring for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy.
“Selection isn’t in my hands. If there is a fitness issue, I should not be here playing for Bengal. I think I don’t need to speak on this and create a controversy. If I can play four-dayers [Ranji Trophy], I can also play 50-overs cricket," Shami said as quoted by PTI.
Agarkar breaks silence on Shami's retort
Reacting to Shami's remarks, Agarkar stated that he would have called the former if he would have read what he had said. The chief selector further said that he will have a conversation with the pacer about what he publicly said.
“If he says that to me, I will answer that. If I read what he said, I will give him a call. I have had multiple chats with him over the last few months. If he said something, that is a conversation for me to have with him," Agarkar said, speaking at the NDTV World Summit.
“If he were fit, he would have been on that plane to England. The domestic season has just started and we will see if he is fit enough. We were desperate to have him for the Australia tour, but he wasn’t fit. If he is fit over the next two months, the story might change," he added.
Shami impresses in Ranji opener
Meanwhile, Shami did make a strong start to his Ranji Trophy campaign and picked up three wickets in his side's opening match against Uttarakhand. The veteran seamer recorded figures of 3/37 in 14.5 overs and proved to be quite economical as Bengal went on to bundle out their opponents for 213 runs in the first innings. The 35-year-old will be hoping to maintain this form for the rest of the tournament.