Shamik Chakrabarty at Eden Gardens
Even after the toss was done and India’s playing XI was announced, Mohammed Shami was bowling on one of the side pitches. By then, he knew he wasn’t part of the XI. It was an anti-climax. The build-up of the first T20I between India and England here at Eden Gardens was all about Shami’s return to international cricket after a gap of 14 months. Without any official word about his fitness, the omission appears tactical.
At the same time, a couple of genuine questions need to be asked. What exactly is Shami’s (match) fitness status? Bowling-wise, does he need more time to get into the groove?
“Selection a good headache, sticking to our strengths,” Suryakumar Yadav said at the toss. India decided to go with just one specialist fast bowler and included three spinners in conditions where dew is expected to make its presence felt. England, on the other hand, picked four fast bowlers.
In the pre-match warm-up, Shami looked absolutely fine. He took the tape and measured his run-up, and then bowled from a full run-up for about 30 minutes. There was a brief pause, when he had an on-field conversation with head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Shami played the 2023 World Cup with an ankle injury. He went under the surgeon’s knife after the tournament and went through an elongated rehab process at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) before returning to competitive cricket for Bengal in November last year. He was still not considered match-fit enough to play Tests in Australia.
Shami’s return to the ongoing white-ball series presented a bigger picture, with the Champions Trophy less than a month away. On the eve of the first T20I, Surya, India’s captain in this format, spoke about how he was excited to see the fast bowler back to the fold. “It’s always good to have an experienced bowler in your side,” Surya had said at the pre-match presser. “He is making a comeback after over a year. I’m really excited to see him. I have seen his journey, what he did at the NCA, and how he was focusing on his bowling and recovery. It’s good to see him back.”
A turnout of more than 50,000 wanted to see Shami bowl on his home patch. The Indian team management pulled off a surprise.
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