Just hours after reports emerged that Mohammed Shami faced a setback in his recovery from injury and could miss the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), the veteran Indian pacer reacted to the rumours with a strong rebuttal and dismissed suggestions that he will not make the trip to Australia.
"Why these type of baseless rumors? I'm working hard and trying my level best to recover. Neither the BCCI nor me have mentioned that I am out of the Border Gavaskar series. I request the public to stop paying attention to such news from unofficial sources. Please stop and don’t spread such fake fake fake & fake news, especially without my statement," wrote Shami on X ( formerly Twitter)
Mohammed Shami's Injury Woes
Shami has not played any competitive cricket since the 2023 Cricket World Cup final between India and Australia last year in Ahmedabad. The 34-year-old was ruled out of the tour to South Africa and home series against England due to an ankle issue. Later, he underwent surgery in February, which meant he missed both the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) and T20 World Cup.
Shami was expected to return to action this month in the Ranji Trophy before being drafted into the Indian Test squad for either the second or third Test against New Zealand before taking the flight to Australia. However, there is no confirmation on whether the legendary pacer will be fit to play Bengal's season opener from October 11.
India are set to tour Australia for a blockbuster five-match Test series as they aim to win the BGT for the fifth time in a row. This will be the first time the two arch-rivals will play a five-match Test series in 32 years.
The series will kickstart with a Test match at Perth's Optus Stadium on November 22 before the teams travel to Adelaide for a pink-ball Test. The remaining three matches will take place at Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.