Watch: Mohammed Shami bowls in nets for first time since sustaining ankle injury

India pacer Mohammed Shami on Tuesday returned to bowling in the nets for the first time in months since sustaining an ankle injury during the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil. Shami has not played competitive cricket since th2 2023 ODI World Cup between India and Australia last November in Ahmedabad, which the Men in Blue lost by six wickets. The 33 year-old underwent a surgery on his Achilles tendon earlier this year.

“Vibing with the latest, grinding for the greatest. #shami #mdshami #mdshami11 #hardwork #practice,” Shami wrote as caption for the post.

The Bengal pacer had an impressive run at the ODI World Cup last year, picking 24 wickets from just seven matches. Due to the ankle injury, the veteran cricketer missed India’s tour of South Africa, the five-match Test series against England at home as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the Gujarat Titans (GT).

Shami also missed the recently-concluded T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA, which Idia went onto win after they defeated South Africa in the final. However, Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh made sure his absence was hardly felt as the duo combined to take 32 wickets in the tournament. Hardik Pandya, too, made vital contributions with the ball, finishing the T20 World Cup with 13 wickets.

India’s next assignment will be their tour of Sri Lanka which consists of three T20Is and as many ODIs. This will be the first tour with Gautam Gambhir as head coach. The series starts with the first T20I on 27 July in Pallekele. In March, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had told News18 CricketNext that Shami’s return was targeted for the Test series against Bangladesh at home, but at the moment, an official deadline for the right-arm pacer’s return is yet to be revealed. The two-match Test series against Bangladesh is scheduled to begin on 19 September in Chennai.