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Beyond fitness! What Mohammed Shami's snub says about India's Test bowling plans

Akshita Patel

Mohammed Shami ignored for home Test series against West Indies [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]Mohammed Shami ignored for home Test series against West Indies [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/X.com]

India unveiled a 15-member squad for the upcoming 2-game Test series against the West Indies scheduled on October 2. While Jasprit Bumrah is expected to spearhead the bowling attack, the exclusion of Mohammed Shami delivers a concerning verdict.

Shami, once rated as India’s most skilful and hard-working seamer, has fallen out of the team’s plans across all formats. With 229 Test wickets in 64 games, the right-arm pacer’s prolonged absence is hard to ignore.

Mohammed Shami dropped despite being injury-free

During the 2023 ICC World Cup, Mohammed Shami picked up a heel injury. In early 2024, he underwent surgery on his Achilles tendon and spent almost 10 months in rehabilitation.

However, as he ramped up bowling workloads in domestic cricket, he experienced minor swelling in his left knee, which needs careful monitoring. Hence, Shami was sidelined from the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Since that 2023 heel injury, the 35-year-old hasn’t played Test cricket with his return appearing increasingly uncertain.

Shami’s record since the 2023 ICC World Cup

After spending nearly a year in recovery, Mohammed Shami did see hope at the end of the tunnel when he was picked for the white-ball series against England held at home.

He featured in 2 T20Is, picking 3 wickets at 9.09 economy, and also played 2 ODIs to claim 2 wickets. Then Shami stepped into the 2025 Champions Trophy, where he scalped 9 wickets, including a 5-wicket-haul against Bangladesh.

In IPL 2025, the right-arm pacer played 9 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad, claiming just 6 wickets at an 11.23 economy and a 56.16 average.

As for red-ball cricket, Shami has played only 2 domestic games since 2023 (1 in the Ranji and 1 in the Duleep Trophy). In those 2 appearances, he picked 8 wickets with a 36.5 average and a 77.3 strike rate.

India clearly moving away from Mohammed Shami!

Speaking at the press conference on September 25, chief selector Ajit Agarkar stated unequivocally that Shami has not produced performances warranting Test selection in recent years.

He added that there were no fresh updates regarding Shami’s fitness. While acknowledging his talent and past contributions, Agarkar stressed that Shami must demonstrate consistent performances in red-ball cricket if he wishes to be considered again for the Test format.

This statement is more than enough to establish that it is the end of the road for Shami in Test cricket. He is 35 years old with incessant fitness and injury concerns.

At a time when India are transitioning into a young side with an aggressive brand of cricket, Shami doesn’t fit into the plans. Mohammed Siraj has been India’s workhorse, leading the pace attack from the front in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence.

Besides, Gautam Gambhir is also grooming the likes of Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, and Prasidh Krishan as India’s third seam option for overseas tours.

Conclusion

Though Mohammed Shami is still a quality and seasoned bowler, the mix of injury record, restricted exposure to red-ball cricket, and growing doubts over whether he can cope with the demands of Test match bowling are encouraging selectors to scale back his participation in Tests slowly.

It seems the team is quietly transitioning, balancing respect for his past performances with the need for long-term stability and fitness in their pace attack. While Shami would not want to give up on his dream, the road ahead appears to be extremely atrocious and uncertain at the moment.