India pacer Mohammed Shami hasn't played a competitive match since November 2023. He played the ODI World Cup at home with an ankle injury and has been out of action since then. He also underwent surgery for the same and it was hoped that he would recover in time for India's home season. However, things haven't gone to plan and with hardly a month to go for the first Test against Australia in Perth, Shami is not match ready yet.
On the eve of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru, India skipper Rohit Sharma stated Shami had a setback in his recovery with a knee injury popping up. He also made it clear that the team doesn't want to take an undercooked Shami to Australia.
Right now, it is pretty difficult for us to make a call on whether he will be fit for this series or the Australia series. He recently had a setback – he had a swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual He was in the process of getting fit – getting close to 100 percent, and he had a swelling in his knee. That put him back a little bit in his recovery, so he had to start again fresh. Right now, he is at NCA – he is working with the physios, (and) the doctors at NCA.
We are keeping our fingers crossed. We want him to be fit; we want him to be 100 percent. More than anything else, we don’t want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia. That is not going to be the right decision for us. He has not played any cricket for over a year. It is quite tough for a fast bowler to have missed so much of cricket and then suddenly to come out and be at his best. It is not ideal. We will want to give him enough time to recover and be 100 percent fit
It is not yet clear whether Shami will get fit in time for the Australia tour as he will also have to play at least a couple of first-class matches to prove his match fitness. At the same time, India will be zeroing in on the bowling options in case, the Bengal cricketer misses out on the entire series.
But replacing a bowler like Shami who loves to hit the deck and generate bounce especially down under will be tough. He has made an impact in Australia before having picked 31 wickets in just 8 Tests in the country. India are surely going to miss him in case he doesn't recover in time for the massive tour.
Rohit Sharma said recently that the management has around 8-9 options in mind to replace Shami in the squad. Let us have a look at how India is planning to fill the Shami 'sized' hole if he is ruled out of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Recalling India's injury-filled but historic 2020-21 tour of Australia
'Toota hai Gabba ka Ghamand' was the tagline of India's previous tour to Australia. It was a historic series as India overcame all the odds including injury and COVID restrictions to not only breach the Gabba fortress but also win the series 2-1 after losing the first Test. The fast bowlers started getting injured right from the series opener with Shami being the first name on the list.
By the time the last Test match began, India's entire bowling attack was new as Mohammed Siraj, playing in his third Test was the most experienced bowler of the team, with Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan and Navdeep Saini featuring alongside him.
Interestingly, apart from Siraj, none of these bowlers are around the Test team right now. Shardul has been out of action for a long time having undergone foot surgery in June this year and is currently playing in the Ranji Trophy. As for Natarajan and Saini, both of them haven't played for India in the format since the Brisbane Test.
Will Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna tour Australia? What about experience then?
Among current players, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Jaydev Unadkat have played recently for India in the whites. But experience is the factor where they lack massively. This shows how important Mohammed Shami is for India in Australia. None of these players have played more than five Tests with Akash Deep being the most recent player to feature in the team. He has done well in the limited chances so far but will he be able to hit the deck and generate bounce like Shami?
Prasidh Krishna possesses the ability to generate bounce thanks to his height but he is very much injury-prone and it remains to be seen if he can last five Test matches on the tour if picked. Moreover, he is with the Indian team as a reserve player for the New Zealand series but Krishna bowled only 8 out of 140 overs for Karnataka in the first round of Ranji Trophy. Was it a part of his workload management or he wasn't fit? It is not clear yet.
As for Mukesh Kumar and Jaydev Unadkat, they are not around the Indian team right now and at the moment, don't seem to be travelling to Australia.
Among these players, Chetan Sharma reckons Akash Deep is the best option to replace Shami thanks to his performances playing for India so far.
"In absence of Shami the best option is Akashdeep. Akashdeep has earned his place and he actually today is the reliable bowler after Bumrah in the team," Chetan, the first Indian bowler to pick up a hattrick in the World Cup, said.
Will the newbies be risked on the Australia tour?
India skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that the likes of Harshit Rana and Mayank Yadav have been picked as travelling reserves for the New Zealand Test series keeping in mind the upcoming Australia tour. This statement was a huge surprise for many as both of them do not have a great experience of playing red-ball cricket. While Mayank who clocked in excess of 150 kph in IPL 2024 has played only one first-class match so far, Harshit too has played only nine red-ball matches in his career. Both players were among the finds of the IPL 2024 edition but for now, they can't be relied upon heavily with the red cherry.
Yash Dayal is another player who has been around the Indian team in recent times but never got the opportunity to showcase his skills at the international level. He has played 26 first-class matches so far accounting for 82 wickets and deserves a chance to play for India. Again, would it be good for him to be exposed directly in Australia? Well, if picked, only time will tell.
Any chance of a comeback for Umesh or Ishant - the veterans?
Team India might have moved on from the likes of Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma but the duo hasn't given up yet. They haven't retired yet and boast huge experience when it comes to Test cricket. Umesh has played 57 Test matches for India while Ishant represented the country in 105 matches in the format. Playing in Australia is not new for them as they have already performed down under but then, the big question is - Are the selectors willing to go back to them? If not the veterans, then are the selectors ready to risk picking rookies like Mayank, Dayal or Akash Deep?
Looking at the options available, it looks certainly tough for India to replace Shami in Australian conditions. With the kind of impact he and Bumrah can have together is unmatched according to Chetan Sharma. He feels that Bumrah's overall impact will be affected with Shami not bowling at the other end.
You “Hunt In Pairs”… you must know that Bumrah’s impact will come down without shami on the other end. You can otherwise check what has been bumrah’s record with and without shami with him," Chetan Sharma said.
