India captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday said pacer Mohammed Shami is in the reckoning to be included in the squad for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia but added the team will exercise patience and let him attain match fitness.
“The door is very much open. We are just monitoring him because he got some swelling in the knee while playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali which obviously hampers his preparation to play a Test match. We don’t want to bring him here in a situation where he pulls up sore or something happens. We want to be more than 100 per cent sure with him because it’s been such a long time since he hasn’t played cricket,” Rohit said after the second Test in Adelaide.
Shami’s last appearance for India was the ODI World Cup final against Australia in November 2023. Upon his return from the knee injury, Shami has played a Ranji Trophy match for Bengal and seven T20 games during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
The pacer was expected to join the Indian team during the home series against New Zealand. But longer than expected time to make the final stretch of his recovery stalled his return with reports suggesting he was experiencing swelling around his knee.
Rohit added that a team will be monitoring Shami’s progress through the remaining Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and take a call on his addition to India squad accordingly.
“To be fair to him, we dont want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team. There are a few professionals there with him. We will take a call based on what those guys, because they are the ones watching him, how he pulls up after the game, bowling four overs and standing twenty overs and like I said, the door is very much open for him to come and play for India,” Rohit added.
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