Mohammed Shami’s last competitive outing was on 19 November 2023, during India’s heartbreaking loss to Australia in the final of the 50-over World Cup. Having mostly bowled first-change, behind Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, from the time he was drafted in for the league fixture against New Zealand in Dharamsala, Shami was surprisingly given the second over in the title clash, because he was unwell and wanted to bowl when at his freshest.

The experienced pacer struck with his first legal ball, having David Warner caught at first slip by Virat Kohli. But that was as good as it got for Shami – and India. He finished with one for 47 from seven overs which increasingly became bereft of venom as Australia romped home by six wickets with 42 deliveries to spare.

Neither Shami, nor the principal stakeholders in Indian cricket, would have imagined then that he would spend a long time on the sidelines, tending to an Achilles tendon injury that necessitated a right heel surgery in London in February. If Shami’s personal distress didn’t exactly spill over to the national side, it’s because India had no overseas Tests scheduled for the first 11 and a half months of 2024, apart from the Cape Town outing against South Africa in early January which the visitors won in any case inside two days.

Shami’s careful rehab, overseen assiduously by the Sports Science team at the National Cricket Academy, progressed excellently, raising the genuine prospect of him easing back into the international fold at some stage during the three-Test home series against New Zealand. A meticulous Return to Play protocol was worked out – players recovering from injury must mandatorily prove match-fitness in a game scenario – and it was decided that he would play in one of Bengal’s early Ranji Trophy matches before being brought back to the national set-up.

The timelines were in his favour – the Ranji season began on October 11, the last of the New Zealand Tests, in Mumbai, starts on November 1. Even if Shami were to miss the first two Tests in Bengaluru (from Wednesday) and Pune (October 24-28), there was ample opportunity for him to get one game out of the way for his state, prove his fitness and work himself back into Test mode ahead of the five-Test tour of Australia, starting next month.

Fresh knee injury adds to Shami's woes

So far so good. Until the 34-year-old hit a screeching roadblock recently by picking up a knee injury that might put his participation in Australia in jeopardy. In the hitting full fitness, Shami contracted swelling in his knee, an unusual development that has forced him to start from scratch and might prevent him from playing even a single Test in Australia.

“He is working with the physios, with the doctors at NCA. We are keeping our fingers crossed,” Indian captain Rohit Sharma said on Tuesday. “We want him to be 100% fit, more than anything else. We don't want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia.”

For Shami not to be ‘undercooked’, he must have overs under his belt in a match, not just in the nets. That’s a long haul from where he is now, which means that at least for the first half of the Australian tour, India will have to make do without his services.

India have gotten used in the last few years to not being able to call on all their first-choice options due to various reasons, with injuries being at the top of the list. Their last tour of Australia was a classic example of a series of unkind cuts. Shami himself broke his forearm in the first Test in Adelaide, while as the showdown unfurled, India lost Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah too. That they still roared back to clinch a second series win Down Under was beyond commendable.

Shami would have looked forward to building on excellent returns of 37 wickets from eight Tests in Australia, where the bounce is pronounced and where seam more than swing is a major factor. He is at a stage of his career where, in normal course, he would brook careful looking after; untimely and prolonged injury layoffs might serve to artificially extend his career, but he is also at an age where recovery and rehab take longer than it would a younger man.

Shami has been a terrific servant of Indian cricket for close to a dozen years – he made his ODI debut in January 2013 – and has the numbers (448 international wickets) to show for his toils. There potentially is still some gas in the tank, a few more miles in his legs, but will the injuries please stay away?

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