Published: Jan 21, 2025, 09:12 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 21, 2025, 09:12 PM (IST)
India’s pace spearhead, Mohammed Shami, is all set to make his highly-awaited return to international cricket after an ankle injury caused him to miss the international side after the 2023 ODI World Cup. He is going to appear in the upcoming five-match T20I series against England, set to begin January 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Shami last appeared for India in the final of the 2023 World Cup. Though he was initially expected to make a return during the Indian Test season, his comeback got delayed because some complications in his knee. However, the Bengal pacer did hard work for his recovery, as he represented Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and Vijay Hazare Trophy in order to prove his fitness.
Shami is now going to be in action in the T20I series against England. Thing to be noted is, he has also been included in the squad for the three-match ODI series, along with the much-awaited Champions Trophy 2025. However, the management is closely going to monitor his performance and fitness through the whole ODI series in order to keep track of his recovery and readiness for the upcoming challenge.
Before the T20I series begins, Mohammed Shami opened up about his journey of making it back to international cricket. He revealed that his passion and love to represent India has served as the driving force throughout his recovery. As he known that he has limited time with the Indian cricket team, Shami is determined to make most of the opportunity to play before he retires from the game.
““Country ke liye jo khelne ki bhoonkh hai woh kabhi khatam nahin honi chahiye. Apko agar usse pyar hai toh aap hamesha fightback karte rahenge, injured chahe aap 10 baar ho jaye. (The hunger to play for the country should never end. If you love that then you will always fight back, does not matter if you get injured 10 times),” Shami said.
“Mere dimaag mein hamesha yehi rehta hai, mein kitna bhi match khel loon, woh mere liye kam hai, kyunke ek baar agar meine cricket chhoda toh shayad woh dobara na hoga. (In my mind it is always there, no matter how much I play, it is less for me, because once i leave cricket then maybe it will not happen again),” he concluded.
India’s T20I squad for England series:
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Axar Patel (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya , Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar and Dhruv Jurel (wk).
