The ‘all-conditions’ bowler is unlikely to mark his run-up in the upcoming five-Test series in Australia, a country which has seen him achieve incredible success; the injured pacer will look at it as a temporary setback and will be keen on making a grand return
In November 2013, Daren Sammy’s West Indies toured India for a quickly fashioned two-Test series, the second of which would be Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th and final Test appearance. It was a series that went exactly the way the experts had predicted, and even though there was no fairytale farewell hundred for the Little Master, he was the cynosure of all eyes during every second of the two Tests. After West Indies lost both Tests inside three days each, Sammy remarked poignantly, “It was Sachin’s farewell party, and we came bearing gifts.”
In the hype and euphoria surrounding Tendulkar’s imminent exit, the sensational debuts in the first Test in Kolkata of two players – one already semi-established, the other just about finding his feet – were relegated to the background. Not unnoticed, no, but certainly not getting the attention they might have otherwise deserved. One of them is now the captain of the Indian Test and One-Day International sides, the other is an excellent exponent of seam, and swing, bowling whose career is at a crossroads, and not for the first time.
Rohit Sharma was earmarked for a Test debut in February 2010 against South Africa in Nagpur until an ankle injury on the morning of the match while playing football delayed his initiation into the international five-day level by three and a half years. Rohit celebrated his belated Test call-up with a magnificent 177, and when he followed it up with an unbeaten 111 in Mumbai, it was as though the baton had passed from Tendulkar to his younger state-mate. Rohit would take six more years, and a promotion to the opening position, to establish himself as an outstanding Test batter too, but his fellow debutant at the Eden Gardens didn’t have to strive that long to make his case.
Rohit was the Player-of-the-Match at the Eden, though that honour could easily have been conferred on Mohammed Shami, of Bengal via Uttar Pradesh. Born in Amroha, he made the move to Kolkata when in his mid-teens after repeatedly being denied his due in the state of his birth, so in a way, his Test debut was at his home ground. Shami made the most of his familiarity with the venue to enjoy an excellent game, out-bowling senior swing exponent Bhuvneshwar Kumar and off-spinner R. Ashwin to finish with match figures of nine for 118.
Six of his nine victims were clean bowled – three in each innings – as he thrilled his home crowd and the leadership group in the team set-up with a memorable exhibition of reverse swing (or was it more reverse seam?). His accuracy and control for someone just 23 was staggering, and his metronomic stump-to-stump line meant he could hardly be taken lightly even when the ball was not reversing.
Impressive tally
Shami’s career has had numerous ups and a few downs, most of them driven by injury, but that hasn’t prevented him from picking up 448 international wickets – and hopefully counting – across the three formats. It’s unlikely that he will add to his 23 Twenty20 International appearances, having last represented the country in the semifinal loss in the T20 World Cup in November 2022, with India having moved on to a younger set of bowlers with different and myriad skillsets. But he still has plenty of gas left in the tank so far as the other two formats are concerned. Provided he can remain injury-free, that is.
Within a year and a half of his Test debut, Shami had established himself as an all-conditions bowler and was one of the vital cogs in the Indian pace attack during the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, when he picked up 17 wickets. Alongside Mohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav, he formed a potent force that powered the team to the semifinal, where India ran out of steam against Australia.
Surprisingly, though, he didn’t start either of the next two 50-over World Cups. In England in 2019, he played only four matches, despite which he was India’s second highest wicket-taker with 14 sticks, only behind Jasprit Bumrah (18). He might not have played a single game at the 2023 edition at home had Hardik Pandya not picked up a tournament-ending ankle injury. When Hardik was around for the first four games, India played Shardul Thakur to provide further depth to the batting. But once the ace all-rounder went out of commission during the outing against Bangladesh in Pune, India had to jettison the Mumbaikar and place their eggs in the basket of the specialists. So came Suryakumar Yadav to bolster the batting and Shami to shore up the bowling.
In extraordinary form
Shami was in extraordinary wicket-taking form from his very first delivery. Brought on in the ninth over against New Zealand in Dharamshala, he cleaned up Will Young straight away and finished with a five-for. That was the beginning of a most productive tournament; against England, he took four for 22 and followed it up with five for 18 against Sri Lanka. By the end of the World Cup, Shami had a tournament-high 24 wickets from just seven outings, including a career-best seven for 57 in the semifinal against New Zealand. Sensational returns for someone who might not have featured in even a single match had it not been for Hardik’s unfortunate injury.
Shami was handed the new ball in the final against Australia in Ahmedabad, a move that paid off when he packed off David Warner with his first legal delivery. Not in the best health, he laboured through seven overs; that would be his last bowl in competitive cricket for the next several months, now numbering 11. He is still some way away from regaining full fitness, which not only puts his immediate future in doubt but also raises question marks about what the longer term holds.
Shami’s World Cup exertions left him with an Achilles tendon issue in his right leg that forced him to go under the surgeon’s knife for a heel surgery in England in February. The rehab process would be long and challenging, but it also had to be handled with care and caution. Shami’s brief was to put in the hard yards, follow the advice of the Sports Science team and not try too much too soon, a scenario the seasoned paceman is well accustomed to, having had his fair share of injuries in the past.
A Return to Play protocol was put in place by the experts at the National Cricket Academy, which entailed Shami building up strength and gradually increasing the intensity and his workload. The general outline was to get him fit in time to play at least one Ranji Trophy game for Bengal before being eased back into Test cricket during the ongoing series against New Zealand.
One of the more far-reaching and logical but significant processes put in place by the Board of Control for Cricket in India is for players absent through injury to prove their match-fitness in a competitive scenario, and because the Ranji season has been advanced this year in deference to India’s Test calendar, Shami had the opportunity to find his feet all over again in red-ball cricket before the five-Test tour of Australia starting next month.
Everything seemed to be going to plan until the 34-year-old picked up swelling in his knee during the rehabilitation and recovery process, an unusual development with great ramifications. The latest injury has indefinitely delayed Shami’s return, and from what Rohit Sharma said in Bengaluru, a day before the scheduled start of the first Test against New Zealand, it must be surmised that Shami’s participation in Australia itself is in serious doubt.
Unique position
Having won their two previous series Down Under, India find themselves in the unique position of inflicting a hat-trick of losses on Australia. Shami would have been a big part of the Indian plans, alongside Bumrah. As well as Mohammed Siraj has come on in the last four years and as impressive as Akash Deep has been since his debut against England in February,
India would have wanted their lead pacers to do the heavy lifting. But Rohit pretty much indicated that Shami won’t be available for the early stages of the series in Australia, in what must be considered a best-case scenario.
Eight previous Tests in Australia have brought Shami 31 wickets, and with his excellent release and movement, he will always remain a handful on the bouncier tracks in that country. Shami’s last tour of Australia, in 2020-21, was cut short after just one wicketless Test, when sustained a broken forearm in the day-night meltdown in Adelaide. He would have looked forward to returning to a country where two previous tours had yielded as many five-wicket hauls – in Sydney in 2015 and Perth in 2018.
He would have relished having another go at Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh, at Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, now returned to his preferred middle-order role after a failed stint as opener. He might still get his chance at some stage over the next two and a half months, but he is in that phase of his life where recovery from injuries takes longer and requires greater application, commitment and determination than ever before.
Shami has shown himself to be nothing if not a fighter in his almost 12-year international career. He will look at this as another temporary setback, an obstacle hardly insurmountable, because he is convinced he has plenty more to offer the Indian team. How long he can sustain that sunny outlook is the raging question.