India pacer Mohammed Shami is closing in on full fitness as he revealed he is completely pain-free and not out of the reckoning for the marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy series starting next month in Australia.
The 34-year-old Shami was seen bowling in full tilt at the centre-wicket after India’s opening Test defeat against New Zealand in Bengaluru on Sunday. Last week, India Test skipper Rohit Sharma revealed that Shami had swelling in his knees which has affected his rehabilitation from an ankle injury sustained last year.
Shami has not played competitive cricket since last year’s ODI World Cup where India finished runners-up. Shami had a prolific tournament, nabbing 24 wickets in seven matches with a best of 7/57 in the semi-final against New Zealand.
“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,” Shami told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Gurugram where he spoke about his cricketing journey.
“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,” he said referring to the five-match contest that begins November 22 in Perth.
Shami also said he would like to play a couple of matches in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. His state side Bengal are slated to play Kerala later this week in the third round before a match against Karnataka in Bengaluru starting November 6.
“The only thing on my mind is to ensure that I am fit and how strong I can be for the Australia series. I can see what kind of attack we need in Australia. I have to spend more time on the ground,” he said.
“I want to play a couple of (Ranji) matches before I go,” he added.
– With PTI inputs
