Hamstring injury to Mohammad Shami hampers Indian crusade at Rajkot

Virat Kohli and the Indian team management were dealt a body blow when Mohammad Shami sustained a hamstring injury in the latter stages of the second session of the first day’s play at Rajkot. India hosts the first Test match against England at Rajkot, with this venue hosting its first ever Test match in its history.

The second session saw Mohammad Shami hobble off as he ran into bowl his tenth over of the innings. After bowling the first delivery, Shami began to stroll back to his bowling marker rather gingerly prompting Gautam Gambhir to make a sinister gesture to Patrick Farhart, the Indian team’s physiotherapist. Although the Indian skipper Virat Kohli showed little or no emotion, it was clear that they had taken a step back.

The 25-year old Mohammad Shami has been riddled with injuries in the past two years. Fearing an injury to Shami, the newly-appointed Indian selectors also chose to leave him out of the squad for the ODI series against New Zealand before recalling Shami back to the side for the Test series.

Apart from featuring in the Test matches against New Zealand and the West Indies, Shami has played little or no cricket in recent times. In fact, the last time he was a prominent part of the Indian squad was in the 2015 edition of the World Cup wherein he picked 17 wickets in 7 matches, a performance that helped the Indians reach the semifinal before capitulating to a well-drilled Australian team.

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Shami only played the warm-up matches for the Indians against the West Indies where he will be remembered for picking up the wicket of Chris Gayle at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In 19 Tests so far, Shami has picked up 66 wickets at an average of 33.72 and in 47 ODIs, he has taken 87 wickets at an average of 24.89.