Mohammed Shami ruled out of Afghanistan Test after failing fitness test at NCA
Mohammed Shami’s name has been removed from the Indian Test team for the one-off Test against Afghanistan after the 28-year-old failed to pass the fitness test at NCA. Delhi pacer Navdeep Saini, who was the highest wicket-taker for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, has been named as Shami’s replacement.
Team India, under the leadership of stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane, are scheduled to take on a young and vibrant Afghanistan team that included the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad in the latter’s debut Test match on June 14 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Indian selectors gave the likes of Virat Kohli, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Yuzvendra Chahal some well-deserved rest ahead of the crucial England tour in July as they named Test specialist Ajinkya Rahane as the skipper. Bengal-born Mohammed Shami was also included in the squad that was declared a month ago.
But as per the latest BCCI release, the pacer has been deemed unfit to participate in the Test match after he failed to pass a standard fitness test at the NCA in Bangalore. Consequently, Shami has been dropped from the squad as a result of his failure and what lies ahead for the player will be made public in the next few weeks.
Following Shami’s exclusion, Delhi seamer Navdeep Saini, who managed to pick up 34 wickets in eight Ranji matches this year, has been given his maiden Test call-up. Saini’s lethal yorker has attracted many an eyeballs, which eventually resulted in Royal Challengers Bangalore purchasing him at the auction.
India Squad: Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Dinesh Karthik, Navdeep Saini
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