Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels the team should have brought Mohammed Shami to Australia and monitored him with the physios there.
Shami, who played for India last in the ODI World Cup 2023 final, underwent surgery in February 2024 for his ankle injury that he picked during the 50-over tournament. Shami made his return to competitive cricket in the domestic circuit, where he played in all three formats for Bengal but picked up swelling in his knees during the domestic season.
While the Indian team was in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar series, Shami played in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and then the Vijay Hazare Trophy as he was building himself up for an India return. It wasn't until the lead-up to the fourth Test in Melbourne that the BCCI confirmed that Shami has swelling in his knees and is not fit for the Border-Gavaskar series.
"I would have kept him part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team," Shastri told the ICC Review. "And then if we thought by the third Test match that no, this guy can't play the rest of the series, I would let him go.
"But I would have brought him with the team, kept him, monitored him with the best of the physios and best of the advice even from international physios who are in Australia and seeing how he went. But I would have kept him in the mix," he added.
Shastri questioned the improper communication from the BCCI over Shami's fitness. "To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Shami. Where is he when it comes to recovery? He's been sitting in the NCA for I don't know how long. Why can't proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia," he said.
The former India head coach believed that Shami's inclusion would have given support to Jasprit Bumrah, who lacked wicket-taking partners on the other end. "It got so tight at 1-1 going into Melbourne. You just needed that experience and support. For all you know, he might have raised the bar as well. And it would have been the two guys there (Bumrah and Shami).
"Pat Cummins couldn't have done it on his own, Scotty Boland had to step in. So you needed a bowler of his experience. You know, as hard as Mohammed Siraj tried, you needed Shami's experience there," Shastri added.
