Fast bowler Mohammed Shami could make a comeback against New Zealand at home

The Indian team management will not rush fast bowler Mohammed Shami’s comeback as their priority is to have the 33-year-old fit and fresh for the five-match Test tour of Australia later this year.

Though Shami’s rehabilitation programme after an ankle surgery in February is well on course, his availability for the Bangladesh series at home next month remains highly unlikely as he continues to build on his fitness.

It is understood that Shami’s target would be the Ranji Trophy opener on October 11, which would allow him to make a comeback during the second or third Test against New Zealand at home, which is after the series against Bangladesh. Alternatively, there is also a school of thought to send Shami to Australia with the India A team that is scheduled to play two four-day fixtures starting on October 31 and November 7 at Mackay and Melbourne.

Having suffered an ankle injury last year, Shami hasn’t played a competitive cricket match since last year’s World Cup final at Ahmedabad. After undergoing a couple of months of rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, Shami opted for a surgery in the end of February. Next week will mark six months since that surgery and right now the pacer is building on his endurance keeping the Australia tour in mind.

Towards the end of the last month, Shami resumed bowling at the NCA, raising hopes of a comeback during the Duleep Trophy. But the pacer wasn’t included in any of the four squads as he is yet to regain full fitness.

Like in the case of Jasprit Bumrah, where a clear roadmap was put in place for his comeback last year, a similar formula has been put in place for Shami as well. Though Shami’s injury isn’t a career-threatening one as that of Bumrah, that he hasn’t played a match for a long time means his workload has to be increased gradually.

According to those in the know, once Shami starts bowling regularly to batsmen at the nets, the next step would be to feature in practice matches at the NCA. “Since he hasn’t played in a while, he has to be integrated smoothly into the system. With Bumrah, we had the T20s in Ireland, which allowed us to increase his workload gradually. But with Shami, we are talking about Test cricket, where he has to bowl long spells. It will be a step-by-step process and Australia tour is the ultimate goal,” sources in the know said.

Rotation of fast bowlers

For the Bangladesh series, India aren’t worried about their pace bowling resources. It is understood that India are deliberating whether to include Bumrah for the series or not as they have a gruelling schedule ahead of them.

Starting with the two Tests against Bangladesh that begins on September 19, India will host three more Tests against New Zealand before leaving for Australia mid November.

Since the T20 World Cup, Bumrah has been given an extended rest by the selectors. Although all the seniors made the trip to Sri Lanka for the ODIs, Bumrah was excluded from the touring party and is also not part of the Duleep Trophy squads. It is understood that Bumrah could feature in one of the two Tests against Bangladesh. Since there is just a three-day break between each of the three Tests against New Zealand, Bumrah is likely to feature only in two of them.

Like Bumrah and Shami, even Mohammed Siraj’s workload is being monitored and he will be rotated during the home season. Siraj has had a busy calendar over the last 18 months and like Bumrah, is expected to be rested for a couple of Tests at home.

“We cannot rest everyone at one go because you need experience even in home conditions. Like in the case of England series, where India paired a senior pacer with a youngster, a similar approach would be adopted. There is a good crop of fast bowlers at the Duleep Trophy, who have been picked keeping the Australia tour in mind. If they do well, we can use them in home conditions before taking them to Australia,” a BCCI official said.

Rotating the key pacers means apart from Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar who played against England, Avesh Khan and Prasidh Krishna will be in the reckoning.

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