Over a fortnight back, a media report had gone viral claiming that Mohammed Shami's chances to make a return to international cricket had taken a major hit owing to a fresh injury concern, which could likely disrupt India's plans for the Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, slated to begin on November 22 in Perth. However, Shami lashed out at the rumours, which he labelled as "baseless," in a scathing post. On Tuesday, ahead of the start of India's home Test series against New Zealand, captain Rohit Sharma left the India fast bowler red-faced, confirming the injury claim in the report, hinting that his return to the international fold might get further delayed.

On October 2, the Times of India published a report that Shami developed "swollen knees" while undergoing his rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, implying that he could be out of action for another 6-8 weeks.

Shami has been in rehab since incurring an ankle injury during the 2023 ODI World Cup campaign, for which he later went under the knife in February. He was expected to make a return to competitive cricket in Bengal's Ranji Trophy opener last week, before playing at least one of the three matches for India in the Test series against New Zealand.

The media report went viral instantly amid Indian cricket fans waiting with bated breath over the return of the star pacer ahead of the Border-Gavaskar series, but Shami lashed out at it, claiming that it was "fake news." Using screenshots of all the media reports, he took to X to post: “Why these type of baseless rumors? I'm working hard and trying my level best to recover. Neither the BCCI nor me have mentioned that I am out of the Border Gavaskar series. I request the public to stop paying attention to such news from unofficial sources. Please stop and don’t spread such fake fake fake & fake news, especially without my statement.”

'Don't want to take undercooked Shami to Australia'

Over two weeks after Shami's post, Rohit, talking to the press ahead of the New Zealand Test series, virtually ruled out the fast bowler for the tour of Australia, saying that an "unusual" swelling in his knees has hampered his recovery from an ankle injury and that it would not be right to take an "undercooked" version of him for Border-Gavaskar series.

"To be honest, right now, it's pretty difficult for us to make a call on him, whether he'll be fit for this series or Australia series. He recently had swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual," Rohit told reporters here on the eve of the first Test against New Zealand.

"He was in the process of getting fit, getting close to 100 per cent, he had swelling in his knee, that put him back a little bit in his recovery. So, he had to start again. Right now, he's at NCA, he's working with the physios and the doctors at NCA," he added.

The India captain added that he wants Shami to regain fill fitness before making a return to the international fold.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed, we want him to be 100 per cent fit. We don't want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia, that is not going to be the right decision for us.

"It is quite tough for a fast bowler, having missed so much of cricket, and then suddenly to come out and be at his best, it is not ideal," he noted.

Rohit further said that the veteran cricketer will have to play a few domestic matches to prove his fitness before playing international cricket.

"We want to give him enough time to recover and be 100 per cent fit. The physios, the trainers, the doctors have set a roadmap for him.

"He is supposed to play a couple of (practice) games before he plays international cricket," he added.

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