Mohammed Shami could feature in the India vs. England 3rd T20I. India cricket team’s batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak, has confirmed that the right-arm pacer doesn’t have any injury issues and is fit for selection in Rajkot. Shami hadn’t played in the first two matches despite being given a clean bill of health by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) medical staff.
Mohammed Shami fit for selection
It wasn’t made clear whether Shami was unfit or he had picked up a niggle after joining the team in Kolkata. For the 3rd T20I, it’s confirmed that Shami will be available for selection. “Mohammed Shami is fit,” Kotak told reporters at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.
However, there is no certainty that Shami will play. Kotak added that before playing the pacer, the management has to decide his workload. Shami will play in the ODIs that follow the T20I series, and given his coming back from such a long international break, it’s imperative to keep a major focus on his fitness and avoid injury.
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Management looking to build Shami’s work load
Shami’s childhood coach, Badruddin, said yesterday that the management is building his workload, and that’s why he hasn’t played. Now, it’s up to head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Suryakumar Yadav whether they want to play him in Rajkot. Badruddin also added that he expects Shami to play the last two matches.
“There is definitely a plan, looking at the coming matches, the ODIs. That is something the coach Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav will take a call. Fitness, definitely not a problem. Depending on how they plan to build his load, it all depends on that,” he added.
India’s squad for England T20Is
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk)
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