Ganesh Kendale
Shami has been away from action since the World Cup final last year but is likely to return to action in the home Tests vs New Zealand
NEW DELHI: Mohammed Shami has been sweating it out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) newly inaugurated Centre of Excellence (CoE) and the seamer is likely to return to action very soon. There were efforts to have him match ready for the Bangladesh series, which India won 2-0, but once that wasn’t possible, all stakeholders have set New Zealand series as a target.
“Shami’s rehab is very much on track. New Zealand Tests are being kept as a realistic target. He is under watchful eyes of BCCI specialists and making very good progress,” said a senior BCCI official aware of developments.
The crafty seamer is still very much in contention for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia later this year.
“Why these type of baseless rumors? I’m working hard and trying my level best to recover. Neither the BCCI nor me have mentioned that I am out of the Border Gavaskar series,” wrote Shami in a social media post on Wednesday.
“I request the public to stop paying attention to such news from unofficial sources. Please stop and don’t spread such fake fake fake & fake news, especially without my statement,” the experienced seamer added.
The pacer has been sidelined since November last year with an ankle injury, for which he underwent surgery in the United Kingdom in February. The surgery ruled Shami out for the next six months.
He was under National Cricket Academy’s (NCA) supervision since the surgery and was streamlined to feature for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, which starts from October 11.
Shami attended the grand inauguration of the newly revamped NCA in Bengaluru on 29 September. Rebranded as the BCCI Centre of Excellence, the facility aims to improve India’s cricket infrastructure.
