‘Mohammed Shami’s fitness is not where it needs to be. Medical team told us…': Agarkar explains veteran pacer's absence
Mohammed Shami has been struggling with fitness issues lately. The pacer has also been poor for SRH in IPL 2025.
The BCCI on Saturday announced the Indian squad for the five-match Test series vs England. In a press conference, chief selector Ajit Agarkar appointed Shubman Gill as the new Test skipper, following the retirement of Rohit Sharma. A huge absence in the squad is Mohammad Shami, and Agarkar blamed the SRH pacer’s workload as the reason behind his exclusion.
Shami last appeared in a Test match in June 2023 vs Australia at the Oval. Since then, he has struggled with fitness issues and also missed the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In 64 Tests, the veteran has taken 229 wickets for India.
Also Read: Shubman Gill named new India Test skipper for England tour, Rishabh Pant vice-captain
Explaining Shami’s absence, Agarkar said, “Yes, we have sort of been in communication with him. He has been trying to get fit for the Test series. I don't think he is fit enough to play five Tests at the moment.”
“I don't think his fitness is where it needs to be. It's just the medical guys who have told us that he has been ruled out of the series. Unfortunately. We were hoping that he would be available for us at some part of the series. If he is not fit at the moment, it's difficult playing the waiting game.
“We thought we would rather plan with the guys who are available. We wanted to try and pick him. But, at the moment, he is not fit,” he added.
Even Harshit Rana has been excluded from the squad. Meanwhile, Arshdeep Singh has bagged his maiden Test call-up and even Shardul Thakur has been included. Jasprit Bumrah is expected to lead the pace attack in England, and wil receive support from the likes of Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna.
We also won’t see Virat Kohli in action, as the star batter announced his Test retirement recently. He currently with RCB, who have qualified for the IPL 2025 playoffs. Other than Kohli and Rohit, we also won’t see R Ashwin in action, who also announced his retirement.
