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On Friday, October 25, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced 18-member squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. While the squad saw some surprise inclusions in Harshit Rana and others, Mohammed Shami was one of the noticeable absentees yet again. Shami, who has been out of action since the 2023 ODI World Cup, continues to recover from an injury for which he underwent a surgery earlier this year.
Although, Shami was set to return to competitive cricket with the Ranji Trophy 2024, he was forced to visit the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru with swelling in his knees. Although, the 34-year-old confirmed that he is pain-free, he was still snubbed from the upcoming BGT.
How can Mohammed Shami feature in Indian squad for upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy?
Although Shami recently shared a social media post where he was seen performing agility exercises and bringing up some weight trainings, there remains a probability that he could travel to Australia for the latter half of the five-match Test series. Moreover, reports have revealed that there remains a chance that Shami might get into the Indian squad on one condition.
"A call on Mohammed Shami's inclusion will be taken after the pacer proves his fitness in the Ranji Trophy. As reported earlier, Shami is expected to play Bengal's fourth round match against Karnataka in Bengaluru in the first week of November after Diwali," the Indian Express report claimed.
With Shami’s absence, the Men’s Selection Committee have named a strong pace bowling lineup including the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna. Moreover, Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini and Khaleel Ahmed have also been included as travelling reserves.
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
