IPL 2018: Mohammed Shami is back on the field, trains with DD for the season opener

There was an uncertainty if he will at all be allowed to play the Indian Premier League (IPL) or not. His franchise Delhi Daredevils wasn’t sure either. But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) cleared Mohammed Shami to play season 11 of the IPL and since then he’s had time to bring back the focus on his cricket.

The news was all around his personal life a couple of weeks ago but today he returned to the cricket field and joined the DD camp. The team is training at their home ground the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi ahead of the season that gets underway on April 7.

He started the session with some fitness drills and then went for catching practice. Shami will be a key bowler for the Daredevils who will want to make an impact this season having failed to do so in the last couple of outings. They are also one of the two teams that has been a part of the league from the first edition to have never won the IPL.

Troubled personal life

Shami first got in trouble when his wife Hasin Jahan appeared in front of the media and accused him of having several extra marital affairs. She went further and claimed that the cricketer and his family physically and mentally tortured her. Jahan lodged a complaint with the Kolkata police and they are investigating the matter.

While making such claims Jahan also stated that Shami was in touch with a Pakistani girl who gave him money that was coming from a UK based businessman.

This triggered a charge of match-fixing against the pacer and the BCCI had to instruct the Anit-Corruption Unit to investigate into it. Thus Shami’s central contract was also withheld by the board. The ACU didn’t find anything and he was cleared, eventually handed a Grade B contract by the board and that also paved the way for his appearance in the IPL.

Following all that Shami also met with an accident and suffered minor injury on his forehead. He still had a band-aid on his forehead while practicing for DD and that suggests it hasn’t completely healed yet.

He will want to put the past behind and give his best for Delhi as only the on-field performance can erase off the off-field issues.

Here is how the DD squad looks like:

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