Shami ‘100%’ pain free, but wants to play domestic cricket before Australia tour

India fast bowler Mohammed Shami is now “100%” pain-free and wants to play one or two Ranji Trophy games to try and be fit for the tour of Australia that will start end of November. Shami is on the road to recovery after an ankle injury which has kept him out of action since the ODI World Cup final last year and was even seeing bowling at full tilt at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday after the first Test between India and New Zealand.

Shami said that was the first time he bowled with a full run-up since his recovery.

“It felt great yesterday because I had been bowling with half a run-up on and off since I can’t put too much stress on my body,” he said during an event organised by Eugenix Hair Sciences in Gurugram. “Yesterday, we decided that I would bowl properly, and I gave my 100%. It felt great, [and] the results are good. Hopefully, I’ll be back on track soon.”

When asked if he was pain-free now, having undergone surgery in February, Shami said, “100%”. Shami has exactly a month to try and be fit for the first Test against Australia, beginning on November 22.

“The Australia series is still far away,” he said. “The only thing I want to focus on is how to keep myself fit, and how strong I can be before going there. I know what kind of an attack we want for that Test series, so it’s better I spend some more time on the ground before going. If I get fit and I get a gap of eight to ten days, then it’s better I play one or two domestic matches before going to Australia.

“I don’t know when I can play next, but the day I feel comfortable about bowling 20-30 overs and I get the nod from the doctors, I’ll run to play a match. I want to spend as much time as I can on the ground before going for the Australia series.”

Shami represents Bengal in domestic cricket and their next Ranji Trophy fixture might be too soon for him to play, beginning October 26 at home. Their two subsequent games after that are from November 6 against Karnataka in Bengaluru and from November 13 in Indore opposite Madhya Pradesh, which will mark the end of the first leg of the red-ball tournament. If Shami does regain fitness next month, he could also aim to play the three-day warm-up game slotted between India and India A in Perth before the first Test starts in the same city.

“It’s very difficult to come back on track after an injury so patience is the biggest thing. Injuries teach you patience and that makes your skill purer.”

Mohammed Shami

Shami had similarly spent months off the field immediately after the 2015 World Cup when an ankle injury troubled him and he had missed the IPL that year too, like in 2024. Having not played a single game in nearly a year, Shami said the one thing such injuries had taught him was patience.

“Don’t get frustrated and focus as much as you can on fitness and game,” he said about spending months off the field. “It’s very difficult to come back on track after an injury so patience is the biggest thing. Injuries teach you patience and that makes your skill purer.

“Fitness is the main thing [you have to focus on in recovery]. You shouldn’t doubt your skill and talent when you’re away because certain things are built in you. I agree you need something like rhythm but your skill will never leave you. It’s your fitness you have to fight for.”

Shami had played a crucial role in India’s first-ever Test series win in Australia, in 2018-19, when he bagged 16 wickets in four matches, behind Jasprit Bumrah’s tally of 21 among fast bowlers in that series. He played just the first Test, in Adelaide, when India toured next, in 2020-21 before he returned home with an injury. India still went on to win that series with several other players also injured, and fielding nearly a second-string side in Brisbane to take home the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Shami said India’s pace attack – which also features Mohammed Siraj – instils fear in the opposition because of the pace and variety the three bowlers offer.

“We have worked as a unit since 2014,” Shami said. “India never had three bowlers at a time who could bowl over 140kmph. Maybe two at max. Now we even have some on the bench who can bowl 145kmph. Every opponent waits for one easy kind of bowler, but that’s how you create fear that all our bowlers are 145kmph and have different kind of skills. And we showed how to fight when we toured overseas. Earlier we used to be on the safe side or our pace attack wasn’t that aggressive. This generation knows how to pay it back.”