Adelaide: Former chief coach Ravi Shastri on Saturday said the “quicker” Mohammed Shami reaches Australia, “the better” it is for Team India, to ease the pressure on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The 34-year-old pacer has been on a comeback trail having spent nearly one year away from top-flight cricket nursing an ankle injury, as he is building up his bowling workload while representing Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
“Quicker Mohammed Shami reaches here, (the) better (it is) for India. He is playing a lot of domestic matches,” Shastri said during commentary on day two of the second Test here.
In Shami’s absence, the onus of shepherding the seam attack has fallen on Jasprit Bumrah, who led India to victory in the first Test in Perth by 295 runs with an eight-wicket haul.
However, India’s pace-bowling attack barring Bumrah has remained largely flat in the Pink-Ball Test in Adelaide, with seamer Harshit Rana bearing the brunt of a Travis Head onslaught. At the time of writing, Rana had conceded 86 runs in 16 overs during which Australia zoomed past India’s first-innings score of 180 with Head slamming his third Pink-Ball Test hundred.
“The quicker he (Shami) reaches here, the better,” Ravi Shastri told while commentating on Star Sports.
Shastri also observed that India’s pace attack is heavily reliant on Bumrah’s performance. “He is playing a lot of domestic matches. You can see the pressure when Bumrah is bowling and others are bowling. There is a lot of pressure on Bumrah,” Shastri added.
After India picked up only one wicket on Friday evening, Bumrah returned to snap up quick wickets on Day 2, including Stee Smith and Nathan McSweeney in the first session.
Shami, who last featured in a Test during India’s World Test Championship final defeat to Australia in June 2023, has made a successful comeback after a year’s break due to a knee injury. The 34-year-old spearheaded the Bengal pace attack in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament, picking up 8 wickets in seven games at a 7.67 economy to reach the knockouts.
Shami also played in a Ranji Trophy match and led Bengal to a thrilling win over Madhya Pradesh with a seven-wicket match haul.
Shastri, however, said it is likely that Shami will rejoin the squad in time for the next Test that begins in Brisbane on December 14. The fourth and fifth Tests of the series will be played in Melborune and Sydney between December 26 and January 7.
