What’s ideal when one’s returning to international duty after 14 months on the sidelines? After heel surgery, a side strain and repeated swelling in the knee kept pushing back a return-to-play plan? To ease back into the scheme of things, right? It’s a luxury Mohammed Shami doesn’t enjoy. India’s most experienced active pacer must hit the ground running when he plays his first game for the country since November 2023. The heartbreak of the 50-over World Cup final is a distant memory for most people but for the 34-year-old, it’s his most abiding recent recollection of international cricket.
Now, though, Shami must gird his loins, try and put the last year and a quarter out of his mind and mentally prepare himself to spearhead the Indian attack, certainly over the next three weeks and perhaps a little beyond that too. After all, there are huge question marks over the immediate future of Jasprit Bumrah , the world’s best all-format bowler. Shami has no time to slowly reacquaint himself with top-flight cricket, especially given the relative lack of experience of the pace unit around him.
Shami’s first test will be at Eden Gardens on Wednesday, in the first of five Twenty20 Internationals against England. It won’t be his efficacy and wicket-taking skills that the leadership group will be fussed about. Shami’s quality isn’t in doubt despite so much time away from the sport – he didn’t play competitively for 360 days before turning out for Bengal in the Ran.
