The Indian men’s cricket team will miss out on star pacer Mohammed Shami during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will be played in Australia. Shami has been not fit and hasn’t competed in competitive cricket since November 2023. This is why he has also been left out of the 18-member India Test squad for the series against Australia.
This loss is massive for the Indian team as Shami would have made them much more experienced with his skill on Australian soil. It won’t be an easy task for Jasprit Bumrah, in the absence of Shami, to lead the fast-bowling charge of India.
Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna will back him, but the last three are set to make their international debut on Australian soil, making India’s pace attack a little unsure. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting before the series in The ICC Review commented that the absence of Shami would go a long way to affect India.
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Ricky Ponting said, “It’s huge. The fact that they’ll miss one of the most successful seamers is massive for them, and you worry about 20 wickets. India have often looked at that as one way of getting the opposition out. Now they don’t have the man they relied so heavily on for wickets, so they need someone to fill those wickets and do justice to their overall attack.”
Shami just leaves such a big hole in that bowling group,” Ricky Ponting noted. “Taking 20 wickets in a Test match is going to be the biggest challenge for India. I think they’ll bat well enough, but bowling without Shami will be tough.”.
Mohammed Shami has taken 229 wickets in 64 Tests. He has played 12 Tests against Australia and took 44 wickets. He played on Australian soil three times and took 31 wickets in eight matches. He is an essential part of India’s bowling attack, he can perform well even in challenging conditions.
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Although always there was hope that Shami might prove his fitness during the Ranji Trophy, he has not been considered for the games against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. This eliminates all chances of his participation in the Border Gavaskar Trophy where India will miss an imperative gap in their list of fast bowlers across the series.
