“High time somebody from NCA talked about him” - Rohit Sharma addresses Mohammad Shami’s fitness after BGT 2024-25 3rd Test
India captain Rohit Sharma said that he is awaiting a response from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru regarding Mohammed Shami's fitness ahead of the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar 2024-25 Tepphy in Australia. The captain reiterated that Shami has issues with his knee and he doesn't want the pacer to get injured again after a year-long comeback.
The 37-year-old, however, accepted the fact that the speedster has become a regular for Bengal in the domestic setup.
Rohit's reaction comes days after a rumored rift between the two players regarding Shami's fitness. Here's what the skipper said during the post-match press conference after the third Test in Brisbane on Wednesday, December 18:
"I think it's high time somebody from NCA talked about him. That's our national cricket academy where he is rehabing. Those guys are the ones who need to come up and give us some kind of update. But look, I understand he's playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. The last thing you want is the player coming here and then pulling out in the middle of the game. You know what happens when that kind of thing happens."
"There's no way we want to take that chance unless we are like, not a hundred percent, 200 hundred percent sure. We're not going to take any risk. But yeah, like I said in the last press conference, the door is open. If those guys at the NCA feel that he's okay to go and recovered, and play, I will be happy to have him," he added.
It's worth mentioning that Mohammed Siraj suffered a hamstring issue before resuming his bowling after a few overs during the first innings against Australia, who piled up 445 runs. The bowling unit didn’t look convincing in the first essay, barring Jasprit Bumrah. However, Siraj and Akash Deep bagged two wickets apiece in the second innings against Australia.
Mohammed Shami named in Bengal squad for 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy
Mohammed Shami, meanwhile, has been named in Bengal squad for the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy. The 34-year-old recently picked up 11 wickets in nine matches at an economy rate of 6.03 in the 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy trophy.
Earlier this year, Shami made his comeback to competitive cricket 360 days after sustaining an ankle injury during 2023 World Cup. He picked up seven wickets in the Ranji Trophy game against Madhya Pradesh. He also scored 37 runs in the second innings as his team triumphed by 11 runs.