India’s Mohammed Shami (left) talks with bowling coach Morné Morkel during the practice session ahead of their first T20 match against England, in Kolkata. (AP Photo)
Mohammed Shami’s comeback for the Indian cricket team will have to wait. The pacer was not picked in the Playing Xi by the Indian cricket team think tank for the first IND vs ENG T20 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
IND vs ENG 1st T20I UPDATE: India have won the toss at Kolkata and have opted to ball first. Follow our IND vs ENG liveblog.
India’s Playing XI
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Reddy, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh.
Shami last played for the Indian cricket team in the 2023 World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad.
Shami had been sidelined because of an ankle injury, which required surgery.
The 34-year-old Shami had returned to action in the Ranji Trophy, besides also playing in the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal.
He had been a notable omission from India’s high-octane five-Test series in Australia because he had reportedly expereinced swelling of the knee on his return to domestic cricket.
The Indian Express had earlier reported that the national selectors met in Mumbai recently and only after receiving a fitness update on Shami, had they picked the fast bowler for the shortest format series against England.
Earlier, when asked at Cricket Association of Bengal’s felicitation ceremony for U-15 women’s cricketers at Eden Gardens, what had kept him going through the injury phase, Shami had said: “Desh ke liye khelne ki jo bhookh hai wo kabhi khatam nahi honi (The hunger to play for your country should never stop).”
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