Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami has recently said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) has helped him to get back in his “rhythm” after a long injury layoff. Notably, Shami was hit on his elbow by a deadly delivery from Australian pace bowler Pat Cummins while batting during the opening Test in Adelaide last year in December. This injury ruled him out of the rest of the series as well as the home series against England after that as well.

“The experience over the years has helped me learn to look after my body. I know how much training is needed, how to keep myself hydrated etc — all these factors must have also helped,” Shami told Gulf News.

Meanwhile, he has returned to action after four months with the IPL 2021, where he did well for Punjab Kings and claimed eight wickets in as many matches as well. However, Mohammed Shami is looking forward to the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand in England and the five-match Test series against England in August-September as well.

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Meanwhile, the veteran said, “I do not believe in overthinking about what my approach will be. I found my rhythm back in the IPL and the rest, of course, depends on the conditions.”

On the other hand, he is now 20 wickets shy of becoming the fifth India pace bowler to reach 200 wickets in the longer format, after Kapil Dev, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. But he said that he is not setting any targets for the upcoming series.

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“No point in planning. Who would have thought the pandemic would virtually destroy two years of our lives? I prefer to take it by each series or tournament as the case may be,” Mohammed Shami concluded.

Meanwhile, the 20-member team will be leaving for their upcoming England tour on June 2 where they will play the WTC final first and then a five-match test series against England as well.