Mo Shami shows promising signs after returning to bowling at full tilt for more than an hour at the NCA in Bengaluru.
Mo Shami bowled for over an hour on one of the primary grounds at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium following the completion of the first Test match between India and New Zealand in Bengaluru on Sunday. As he attempts to recover from an ankle ailment that has kept him out of action since November of last year, he also participated in fielding drills.
While bowling coach Morne Morkel was keeping an eye on the practice, the 34-year-old fast bowler, who had extensive strapping on his left knee, bowled at full speed to India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. He bowled nearly nonstop and just paused for the fielding drill near the boundary, showing no signs of strain.
Around 2:30 pm, Shami started his practice. He marked down his whole run-up and used that for the remainder of the session after a few warm-up deliveries. After Nayar finished his batting, Shami ran in and bowled while Morkel waited behind the wickets with cones in the pitch. He was done by 3:50 p.m.
After the second day’s play concluded, Shami also had a bowl on one of the practice grounds located at the far end of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. That day, he bowled for about forty-five minutes, using both short and extended run-ups.
Prior to their November start of a five-Test tour of Australia, India is awaiting word on Shami’s health. Despite playing with an ankle injury, he made an appearance in the 2023 ODI World Cup final in November of last year, taking 24 wickets at an average of 10.70 in seven matches.
After the start of the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma had said that Shami had a “setback” with a swelling on his knee.
“He has not played any cricket for over a year,” Rohit had said. “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.
“We don’t want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia. That is not going to be the right decision for us.”