Indian pacer Mohammed Shami, who has been out of action since the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 due to a troubling Achilles injury, has undergone successful surgery on his tendon in London on Monday, February 26. Shami, who carried the injury through the World Cup, was able to play the tournament till the final but required rest and rehab after. However, having spent time at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for almost three months, Shami was advised surgery to get over the injury once and for all.
Shami shared pictures after the surgery on his social media accounts mentioning that it will be a while before he takes the field again. "Just had a successful heel operation on my achilles tendon! Recovery is going to take some time, but looking forward to getting back on my feet," Shami wrote. Shami is set to be ruled out for almost six months which means that the pacer will not be able to participate in the 2024 edition of the IPL, in another huge blow for the runners-up Gujarat Titans. Shami, who is already not in the T20 scheme of things, will now also be missing the T20 World Cup.
The Titans, who will already be without their former skipper Hardik Pandya, will now miss the services of last year's Purple Cap Holder. With Rashid Khan also nursing an injury, the 2022 champions are not in great shape just before the tournament.
Shami was the story of World Cup 2023 for India as despite missing the first four matches of the tournament, he ended up being the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps including seven of them in the semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai. The senior pacer will now be targeting a return in the New Zealand Test series in November before the all-important tour of Australia.
