Focus on returning Shami in first T20I vs England

Making a comeback after 430 days, all eyes will be on the veteran pacer on Wednesday at Eden Gardens
India team during practice in Kolkata on Tuesday
India team during practice in Kolkata on TuesdayPTI
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3 min read

CHENNAI: The last time Mohammed Shami took the new ball for India, more than a billion hopes soared. Shami, unlike the rest of the 2023 ODI World Cup, took the new ball ahead of Mohammed Siraj in the final against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium on the night of November 19.

At that time, there was no inclination that Shami would not put on India colours for another 14 months. It has been a long, frustrating lay-off to say the least. In March, he was on track to make a comeback in October for the New Zealand Tests. When India played the first Test in Bengaluru, Shami was training with them on the sidelines with a strapped knee. He sat at the National Cricket Academy and watched India lose a home Test series for the first time since he made his debut.

Even as he tried to make a comeback in the domestic circuit, pushing himself to get on a plane for Australia, swelling in the knee did not help. In his defence, Shami did everything he could but it just did not happen. With questions over the veteran pacer coming up at every press conference, India captain Rohit Sharma even said in Brisbane that the update should come from the NCA to clarify things.

By the time the Boxing Day Test came along, the update also came stating that left knee had minor swelling and that he had not been deemed fit for the rest of the series. India lost the series 1-3 while Shami was in India watching from half a world away. The bigger blow was Jasprit Bumrah's back spasm.

Which, at this point, has left India with desperate hope of a Shami comeback for the Champions Trophy. Understandably, the BCCI wants to manage his return to international cricket and it begins at the Eden Gardens against England in the first T20I on Wednesday.

In the lead up to his India return, Shami has played one Ranji game, three Vijay Hazare ties and nine Syed Mushtaq Ali matches for Bengal, sending down 104.5 overs. In training, he has bowled a lot more. But Shami, sporting a flowing lock these days, would be keen to make the ball hop around and show the world that he still have it.

From a team point of view, more than how he does in terms of wickets and economy, the focus will be on how his body copes and whether he is able to move comfortably on the field. For an experienced campaigner like him, on pitches where ball is going to fly around off the bat, it is more about the workload on comeback than the numbers itself. "He is making a comeback after over an year. I am really excited to see him. I have seen him, his journey what he did at the NCA, how he was focusing on his bowling and his recovery. It is good to see him fit and back in the side," T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav said at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, he will be taking the new ball with Arshdeep Singh and not Bumrah. While the left-armer has been the first-choice pacer in the shortest format now, whether Arshdeep does well or not, who scores runs and who doesn't, everything will be secondary... for all eyes will be on a 34-year-old pacer who will be walking out in India colours after 430 days.

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