Aakash Chopra raises concerns over Mohammed Shami's return to Indian cricket squad

The third T20I ended on a disappointing note for Team India, who failed to chase down the England total which has kept the series alive for both teams. What made this even more disappointing was that the team failed to deliver even after India star pacer Mohammed Shami made a long-awaited return to international cricket. 

Notably, it was Varun Chakravarthy who stole the show with the ball as he claimed his second career five-wicket haul in T20Is against England. On the other hand, Shami might have gone wicketless in the match and given 25 runs in his three overs. Though Shami still showed glimpses of brilliance in the game with the new ball, there are still some experts who believe he is not ready for future tournaments.

One of the experts who brought up this discussion was the former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, Aakash Chopra. Chopra questioned Mohammed Shami's dropping in pace and also criticized Captain Suryakumar Yadav for not giving him his full quota of four overs. 

“Shami is back. All of us saw Shami bowl but is he really back? That is the bigger question. You feel happy when Shami comes to bowl on the ground, but that is not the be-all and end-all. You need the Mohammed Shami who left 436 days ago because even if it's one notch lower than that, it won't work out," said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

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“The captain didn't give him the fourth over only. He gave him only one over at the death. He had the option to give two. He could have done that because eight or nine wickets had already fallen. This was the time when you say there wasn't any pressure at the death, The seam was slightly tilted in the first over. It shows that the zero-seam Shami wasn't fully there in the first over. Then he got huge swing as well. There was a difference of almost 8-10 kph between 19 Nov 2023 and 28 Jan 2025," Chopra concluded. 

Shami last played for India in ODI World Cup

For the unversed, the last white ball tournament Mohammed Shami played was back in 2023 in the ODI World Cup where he became the highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets from seven matches, he played at an average of 10.70. and economy of 5.26 in the tournament.