Shami recently had a setback - swelling on his knee: Rohit Sharma

Indian Test skipper Rohit Sharma said he is not sure about Mohammed Shami’s availability after the 34-year-old seamer developed “a swelling on his knee”. 

The right-arm fast bowler, who hasn’t played any competitive cricket since the 2023 ODI World Cup final, underwent surgery on his right Achilles tendon in February and the current injury has now put his participation in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in serious doubt.

"Right now, it is pretty difficult for us to make a call on whether he will be fit for this series or the Australia series. He recently had a setback - he had a swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Rohit as saying before the first Test against New Zealand, starting on October 16 (Wednesday) in Bengaluru. 

"He was in the process of getting fit - getting close to 100% - and he had a swelling in his knee. That put him back a little bit in his recovery, so he had to start again fresh.

"Right now, he is at NCA - he is working with the physios, (and) the doctors at NCA. We are keeping our fingers crossed. We want him to be fit; we want him to be 100%. More than anything else, we don't want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia. That is not going to be the right decision for us."

The blockbuster five-match Test series between India and Australia will begin in Perth on November 22 and Rohit admitted that it will be tough for Shami to get back to his best immediately. "He has not played any cricket for over a year. It is quite tough for a fast bowler to have missed so much of cricket and then suddenly to come out and be at his best.

"It is not ideal. We will want to give him enough time to recover, and be 100% fit. The physios, the trainers, (and) the doctors have set a roadmap for him. He is supposed to play a couple of games before he plays international cricket. We will see where he is at after this New Zealand series, and then take a call at what stage of Australia (series) he will be fit for us."

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