 "Five bowlers who could replace Mohammed Shami in Australia tour if senior India pacer fails to regain fitness")
Mohammed Shami is currently racing against time in order to regain full match fitness ahead of India’s tour of Australia. The senior India pacer has not played any form of competitive cricket since last year’s ICC World Cup at home, in which he finished as the highest wicket-taker despite being benched for the first few matches.
Shami was found to have suffered an injury during the World Cup and subsequently underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon in February after failing to regain fitness for the tour of South Africa.
Read | ‘Don’t want to rush and risk getting injured again’: Mohammed Shami
The Gujarat Titans pacer has been undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) since his surgery and has resumed bowling in the nets of late. Shami is expected to play for Bengal in the upcoming Ranji Trophy in order to prove his match fitness ahead of the Australia tour.
A report on The Times of India on Wednesday, however, stated that Shami’s chances of boarding the flight to Australia suddenly appeared doubtful after the senior pacer developed “swollen knees” during his rehab at the NCA.
Shami would later slam the report as a “baseless rumor” while urging fans to not fall for such “fake news”.
Read | BCCI secretary Jay Shah virtually confirms India pacer for Australia Test series
However, in the unfortunate event of Shami missing out on another major assignment due to fitness concerns, one wonders if India have enough back-up options to ensure India don’t end up relying on Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj alone and have a quality third pacer, or even a fourth, to handle the match workload.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHere are five players who can replace Shami in India’s squad for the upcoming five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia:
Akash Deep
Shami’s continued absence has greatly benefited Bengal pacer Akash Deep, who impressed on Test debut against England in Ranchi earlier this year and featured in both Tests against Bangladesh recently.
Not only was the 27-year-old pacer deceptively quick, he also made an instant impact by collecting wickets in clusters. On Day 2 of the Chennai Test, he had struck twice in consecutive deliveries to be on a hat-trick. And more recently in Kanpur, he had collected two wickets in quick succession on the rain-affected opening day.
It certainly appears as if the team management has Akash Deep in mind as their third pacer alongside Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj if Shami fails to regain fitness.
Mukesh Kumar
If not Shami and Akash, it could be another Bengal pacer born outside the state in Mukesh Kumar who could be bowling alongside Bumrah and Siraj Down Under. Mukesh, who like Akash hails originally from Bihar before choosing to represent Bengal, had debuted in all three formats during the tour of West Indies last year and has managed to keep himself in the selection radar in both the red and white-ball game.
More recently, Mukesh had collected a couple of four-fers in the Duleep Trophy along with a three-wicket haul in the opening game, finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker in the first red-ball event of the Indian domestic season.
Yash Dayal
Yash Dayal’s dream of earning a maiden India call-up was finally fulfilled after the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee included the Indian pacer in India’s squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, and later retaining him for the second Test as well.
India, after all, have been looking for a quality left-arm quick, something they have not had since the days of the great Zaheer Khan, and Dayal, who collected four wickets for India B in their 76-run win against India including 3/50 in the second innings, certainly has the potential to fill that void.
Arshdeep Singh
If not Dayal, India can always look towards Arshdeep Singh as their left-arm pace option in the Test format. The Punjab Kings pacer has been huge hit in the IPL as well as in the Twenty20 Internationals as someone who can collect wickets at any stage of the innings and is especially composed in the death overs.
And by finishing with 13 wickets in three games in the Duleep Trophy, including 6/40 in India D’s consolation victory over India B in the final round, Arshdeep has highlighted the fact that he could be an asset in the red-ball game as well.
Navdeep Saini
If none of the above options work, India can always turn to Navdeep Saini, the pacer who not only was part of the Ajinkya Rahane-led Indian team that pulled off an incredible come-from-behind 2-1 Test series victory Down Under in 2020-21 but also has been in decent form of late.
The Haryana pacer, after all, finished as the third-highest wicket-taker in the Duleep Trophy with 14 wickets in three matches.
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