New Delhi, Oct 22: Seasoned India pacer Mohammed Shami on Monday declared himself pain-free but insisted on proving his fitness in domestic cricket by playing at least “one or two” games to make a strong case for selection for the marquee tour of Australia starting next month.Shami, who has not played since the ODI World Cup final last November, bowled full tilt in the nets after India’s opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru on Sunday.
This was a few days after skipper Rohit Sharma revealed that he had swelling in his knees which has affected his rehabilitation from an ankle injury sustained last year.
“I am very happy with how I bowled yesterday. I was bowling from half run-up before that because I didn’t want to take too much load. But yesterday, I decided to go full tilt, and I bowled at a 100 per cent,” the 34-year-old told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by Eugenix Hair Sciences.
“The result was good. I am 100 per cent pain-free. Everyone has been wondering for a long time about whether I will make it for the Australia series but it is still some time away.”
India are expected to leave for Australia two weeks before the series opener in Perth beginning November 22, leaving Shami just about enough time to feature in two Ranji games for Bengal.
Bengal take on Kerala at home from October 26 before travelling to Bengaluru to face Karnataka from November 6. Is he ready for Bengal’s next game?
“I don’t know if I can play the next match. But the day I feel I can bowl 20 to 30 overs, doctors give me the clearance, I will go. I want to spend maximum time on ground before Australia series.
“I don’t want that I clear fitness here in India and something happens there (in Australia). I want to be totally sure about my fitness before going there,” said Shami, who was only part of the Adelaide Test on the previous Australia tour in 2020-21.
India would be glad to have Shami’s services on the bouncy pitches Down Under though Rohit has already said that he is not in favour of taking an “undercooked” Shami to Australia.
Shami, who played a substantial role on the 2018 tour of Australia, realises that he is important to the team’s overall plans.
“If I get fit, we will need to have the same package that we had on the last two tours. I might not be there but, if you see what happened in 2020, everyone was injured and still we won.