'Don't want an undercooked Mohammed Shami in Australia': Rohit Sharma
India's Test captain, Rohit Sharma, opened up pacer Mohammed Shami's recovery process ahead of the 1st Test against New Zealand, starting October 15. Notably, swollen knees have further delayed Shami's return to the Test setup. This could lead to his absence from the five-match Test series in Australia in November. Therefore, Rohit asserted that India don't want an unprepared Shami for their Australia tour, which could aggravate the latter's injury. Here's more.
Shami's unusual knee swelling delays recovery
Rohit revealed Shami suffered an unforeseen swelling in his knee while recovering. "He recently had a setback. He had a swelling in his knee, which was quite unusual while he was in the process of getting fit, getting close to 100%. That put him back a little bit in his recovery," Sharma said at a press conference ahead of the 1st Test in Bengaluru.
Shami's fitness for Australia series uncertain
Shami is currently being treated at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), where he is working closely with physiotherapists and doctors. Rohit stressed the team's wish for Shami to be fully fit before he returns to international cricket. "We want him to be 100% fit. More than anything else, we don't want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia," he said. The fast bowler had been nursing a left Achilles heel injury since last year's ODI World Cup.
India prepare backup for Test series
Considering Shami's uncertain recovery timeline, India have prepared a group of "traveling reserves" for the New Zealand Test series. The group includes Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav, and Nitish Reddy. Prasidh Krishna was also expected to join the team but faced another injury during Karnataka's Ranji Trophy match. Rohit confirmed that all these players are potential candidates for the Australia series.
Rohit emphasizes need for strong bench strength
Rohit also stressed on having a strong bench strength and not depending too much on a few. He said, "We want to create a group of fast bowlers where we have 8 or 9 options with us. It's not about 3 or 4 options." This way, the team can be prepared for any injuries or setbacks in future matches.
