Sourav Ganguly : Mohammed Shami is an automatic choice for Champions Trophy

After going wicketless in his first two games in the ongoing Indian Premier League, fast bowler Shami made excellent use of the Kotla strip in his third game for Delhi Daredevils and took two wickets against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“Shami fared quite well in yesterday’s match. The ball to get rid of David Warner was a very good one. If he is fit, he is well and truly an automatic choice in the Indian team. No second thoughts on that,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by IANS.

A knee injury sustained during the third Test against England in November forced Shami out of the remainder of the series, the limited-overs segment against England early this year and the subsequent Test series against Australia. The 26-year-old had been out of competitive action for five months.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir has been in sublime form in the IPL, scoring 411 runs from 11 matches, next only to Warner, who has scored 489 from 10 games.

“Gambhir is in good form, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep him in the fray. Besides, Lokesh Rahul too is not available at the moment,” Ganguly said.

On Royal Challengers Bangalore’s disappointing run this season, Ganguly said: “They lost momentum at the start itself and it’s really difficult to recover, considering the format of the game.

"You just don’t get enough time. Also, some of their main players [Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers] weren’t available during the initial stages, which let them down. Moreover, having big names in the squad doesn’t always mean that you will do well all the time.”

India will begin their title defense against Pakistan on June 3 after playing two warm-up games against New Zealand and Bangladesh.