Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has said that Mohammad Shami isn’t being considered for a place in the Indian team across formats as he isn’t at his best of form. He added that the star pacer wasn’t bowling full throttle in IPL 2025, and he was unusually wayward, despite claiming a five-wicket haul, in the 2025 Champions Trophy as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “I think Mohammad Shami has also said, ‘What’s your problem with me?’ Some people want him to retire. I don’t know who those people are, but he doesn’t want to retire, and wants to play. He is saying that he is fit, available, and playing, and if he is playing, he should be selected. It’s a fair argument.”
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“However, if you look at it from the selectors’ point of view, and even after including the Champions Trophy, where he picked up a five-wicket haul, but despite that, you have felt every time that he is not the 100-percent old Shami. The full throttle Mohammad Shami wasn’t seen in the IPL. He wasn’t bowling at the same speed in the Champions Trophy. I had never seen him bowl five wides in an over, but that also happened there,” he further added.
However, Aakash Chopra also shared that Mohammad Shami is potentially paying the price for his own success as well.
“Shami’s problem is that everybody pays a price for their own success. I am talking about people who are more successful. You don’t compare Shami with anyone else. You compare Shami with Shami’s best, and then you see that the same Mohammad Shami is not being seen,” he explained.
“Wickets will never be a parameter for Shami. For Shami, it would be about the rhythm he is running with, if the run-up is with the full throttle and the ball is going the same way. If that’s happening, he can be back, but the selectors, team management, and captain will have to be convinced. At this point in time, it doesn’t seem like they are convinced, and that is the reality,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
