Team India pace bowler Mohammad Shami gave a stern response to questions about his retirement ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup. However, he was left out of the Asia Cup squad. Shami last played international cricket during the 2025 Champions Trophy as well.
In an interview with News 24, Mohammad Shami said, “If someone has a problem, tell me, if it is like their lives become better if I take retirement. Tell me whose life have I become a rock in that you want me to retire? The day I get bored, I will leave. You don’t pick me, but I will keep working hard. You don’t pick me in international, I will play domestic. I will keep playing somewhere or the other. You have to make these decisions when you start feeling bored. That is not the time for me now.”
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“I only have one dream left, that is to win the ODI World Cup. I want to be a part of that team and perform that wins the ODI World Cup and brings it home. We were very close in 2023. We had a gut feeling, but we also had a fear that we were winning non-stop, and it was the knockout stage. There was some fear. But the enthusiasm and belief of the fans motivated us. This was a dream that could have been fulfilled, but maybe it was not in my luck,” he shared again.
However, Mohammad Shami missed Team India’s recently concluded Test series against England due to injury. He was not completely fit and hence was dropped as well. He has been battling injury for a while and even missed the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia as well.
“Touchwood it is better now. The last two months I have trained, increased my skills, shed weight and increased the load as well. Let’s see the result that I get now. My focus in on getting rhythm and to be able to bowl long spells. I have practiced on batting and fielding as well and done a lot of gym. Everything is comfortable now,” he said.
“We often overpush, and then we have to pay a big penalty. It happened to me during the 2015 World Cup when I pushed a lot and then had to get my knee operated. It was the same scene in 2023. I played in pain and then I had to give up and spent a lot of time after that. I am not saying not to push, but if it is a normal series, you should talk to the management,” Mohammad Shami concluded.
