The ICC ODI World Cup final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad on November 19 2023, was Shami’s last international appearance. The 34-year-old has been out of reckoning from national team as he struggled with an ankle injury for which he underwent surgery in the UK last year.
Shami’s rehabilitation process was a long and arduous one and a swelling on his knee then prevented him from joining the Indian team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, leaving Jasprit Bumrah to shoulder the bulk of the pace bowling load.
His previous T20I match was in November 2022 when he played the semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup against England in Adelaide. England beat India by 10 wickets in that match and Shami bowled 3 overs and conceded 39 runs.
It is understood that Shami has been picked because he will also be a part of the Champions Trophy squad and will be gradually working on his bowling load. He is not going to play all five games against England.
Suryakumar Yadav will lead the 15-member team in the series
From the team that played against South Africa in an away series in November, Ramandeep Singh was replaced by the find of the BGT trophy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, while Avesh Khan and Yash Dayal made way for Shami and Harshit Rana, respectively.
Wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma was dropped with Dhruv Jurel making the cut. All the players who were picked for the Bangladesh home rubber and South Africa away series have been dropped because the top T20 stars were back then busy with the red-ball season.
The four spinners in the squad are Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar.
Incidentally, Shubman Gill, who was made the vice-captain after the last T20 World Cup, hasn’t found a place in the team.
Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings followed by Tilak Varma and skipper Surya.
Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh are expected to bat at No. 5 five and No. 6, respectively, and they will be followed by Axar in the batting order.
The two pacers for the first couple of games will be Arshdeep Singh and Shami, with Pandya as the third seamer. The two wrist spinners — Chakravarthy and Bishnoi — will come into the equation to complete the expected playing XI.
India and England will then face off in a three-match ODI series from February 6.
Team: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).
(with inputs from PTI)
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First Published: Jan 11, 2025 9:14 PM IST
