Reports | Mohammed Shami targets Border Gavaskar series comeback with domestic cricket push

ByDebayan Sinha, SportsCafe Editor

10/21/2024

Indian pacer Mohammed Shami has offered strong reassurance about his fitness and is now setting his sights on the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He emphasized that his priority is to focus on domestic matches, which will help him stay in top form ahead of next month’s series.

‌Shami has been sidelined since the ODI World Cup final last year, has provided a key update on his injury. With India's tour of Australia fast approaching, Shami's fitness has been a major talking point.

According to a Cricbuzz report, pacer Mohammed Shami is "100%" pain-free after a setback in his recovery. He hopes to prove his match fitness for the Australia tour by playing "one or two domestic matches." Videos that went viral on social media show Shami bowling in the nets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The report also quoted Shami and stated, “It felt great yesterday. Before that, I had been bowling with a half-run-up because I didn't want to put too much load on my body. We decided yesterday that I would bowl at full intensity for the last two sessions and I gave my 100%. It felt good, the results were encouraging. Hopefully, I'll be back on track soon.”

Moreover, the Bengal pacer has also cleared that he would be playing a couple of Ranji Trophy matches for his state. Currently, Shami's only focus is to get fit in time for the tour of Australia but with around a month to go for the series, it remains to be seen how he plays a couple of matches before the five-match series.

Shami added, “ The only thing I want to focus on is how to keep myself fit and how to get as strong as I can for the tour. I know what kind of an attack we want for that Test series, so it's better for me to work on the nuances and spend some more time on the ground before going.”

The 34-year old played a pivotal role in India's historic first-ever Test series win in Australia in 2018-19, taking 16 wickets in four matches at an average of 26.18. Among fast bowlers, he finished second only to Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed 21 wickets in that series. However, during India's 2020-21 tour, Shami featured only in the first Test in Adelaide before an injury forced him to return home. Despite several injuries depleting the squad, India fielded a near second-string side in Brisbane and famously retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy kicks off on November 22, with the first Test scheduled to be played in Perth.