Reports: Recovering Shami likely to miss first two England Tests

Ace pacer Mohammed Shami is likely to miss the first two Tests of the five-match series against England, which is slated to begin on January 25. He recently claimed to have played with pain during the ODI World Cup 2023 after which, he has been advised to take a break from the sport. Currently, he is recovering from an ankle injury, for which the cricketer was also ruled out of the two-match Test series against South Africa.

As per reports, the 33-year-old is yet to start bowling in the nets. BCCI officials expect the pacer to test his fitness at the NCA before making it to the Test squad. In case, he manages to recover well, Shami will join the squad in Rajkot for the third Test.

“Shami hasn’t even started to bowl, he will have to go to NCA and prove his fitness. He looks doubtful for the first two Tests against England,” a source from the Indian board told The Indian Express.

Prasidh Krishna or Mukesh Kumar could replace Shami in the playing XI for the first two Test matches against England. Kumar was sensational with the ball in the second Test against the Proteas at Newlands, Cape Town while Prasidh looked decent as skipper Rohit Sharma wasn’t happy with his performance in the first Test of the series in Centurion.

Barring Shami, all the other Test cricketers are fit for the blockbuster series against the Three Lions. The team is set to regroup in Hyderabad after the series against Afghanistan, which will finish on January 17.

The selectors meanwhile are yet to announce the squad for the Test series. It needs to be seen if the first round of the Ranji Trophy games are considered, as veteran cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara seemed to be in sublime form, while Hanuma Vihari scored a half-century and Riyan Parag made 155 runs off 87 deliveries. 

On the other hand, Suryakumar is yet to recover from his ankle injury and the BCCI is likely to send him abroad for further treatment.