Mohammed Shami, the star pacer for India, had ankle surgery in February and missed the five-match Test series against England, the Indian Premier League, and the recently finished T20 World Cup. The 33-year-old cricketer is training to get healthy at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) because he is unsure of when he will be able to play professionally again.
The board had intended to employ him in the series against Bangladesh, according to a source close to the BCCI, but that may not have happened
Shami disclosed that he has not yet reached maximum fitness and that, upon doing so, he will play a few domestic cricket matches for Bengal prior to rejoining the national squad.
It’s hard to predict when I’ll return. Though I’m making a lot of effort, maybe you’ll get to see me in Bengali colours before I put on the India jersey once more. The Times of India cited Shami as saying, “I will come to play two or three matches for Bengal and will come fully prepared for it.”
The intention, Shami said, was to have the operation done following the T20 World Cup so that he could participate in the global competition and the Indian Premier League. However, plans had to change when his ankle deteriorated during the ODI World Cup. In the 50-overs competition, the Amroha-born speedster was merciless, but he was also nursing an injury. Shami disclosed that he hadn’t anticipated the injuries to become that severe, and the medical professionals had recommended surgery.
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“We had no idea the injury would be this bad. Since the IPL and the ICC T20 mega event took place nearly back-to-back after the World Cup last year, the intention was to handle it after the T20 World Cup. However, things became worse during the ODI World Cup, and I didn’t think it was appropriate to continue taking chances with it either,” he said. The pacemaker said, “Even the doctors could not have predicted that the injury would take such a serious turn and that it would take so long to heal.”