2nd Test: Door very much open for Shami to come and play, says Rohit

Adelaide, Dec 8 (IANS) After India suffered a ten-wicket defeat to Australia in the Adelaide Test, skipper Rohit Sharma said the door is very much open for veteran fast-bowler Mohammed Shami to join the squad in Australia.

But at the same time, Rohit reiterated that the team is taking a careful route over assessing Shami’s match fitness. Shami has not played for India after 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia, due to an Achilles injury that needed surgery this February.

After suffering some setbacks during his long recovery process, Shami made his competitive comeback for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy fifth round match against Madhya Pradesh at Indore, where he took seven wickets in his team’s win.

At the time of his cricket comeback in Indore, Nitin Patel, the sports science and medicine head of the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) and senior men’s selection committee member Ajay Ratra were in attendance.

"We are just monitoring him because while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali, he got some swelling in his knee, which hampers his preparation to come and play a Test match. We want to be very careful, we don't want to bring him here, he pulls up sore or something happens. We want to be more than 100% sure with him because it has been a long time.

We don't want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team. There are some professionals monitoring, we will take a call based on what those guys feel. They are the ones watching him every game, how he pulls up after the game, after bowling four overs, standing for 20 overs. But the door is open for him to come and play anytime," said Rohit in the post-match press conference.

Since then Shami played all seven league stage games for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Rajkot, picking eight wickets in 27.3 overs, while being watched over for his fitness levels by Patel, selection committee member SS Das and CoE strength and conditioning trainer Nishanta Bordoloi.

As of now, Shami is with the Bengal team ahead of their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy pre-quarterfinal game against Chandigarh, to be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on November 9.