As India prepares to take on England in the upcoming five-match T20I series, the focus is on veteran fast bowler Mohammad Shami. The right-arm pacer makes his much-awaited return to the Indian team for the upcoming series.

He has not featured for India since the 2023 World Cup final in November 2023. He played the World Cup with an ankle injury and finished the tournament as the player with the most shots on goal. However, Mohammad Shami also paid a huge price by playing injured, requiring surgery and being sidelined for almost a year.

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He returned to competitive cricket a few months ago and is expected to be selected for the Indian national team for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, the selectors decided not to include him in the Test squad before recalling him for the T20Is against England.

Mohammad Shami sweated profusely and said:

He is back💪🏻

Indian team 🇮🇳
Mohd. Shami😎
Garden of Eden🏟️

Simply perfect👌🏻#IndiaTeam | #INVENG | @MdShami11 | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/PwCuEOcaDA

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 20, 2025

Mohammed Shami joined his Indian teammates for a grueling three-hour session on Sunday (January 19). The Indian pacer, who has a heavy strap on his left knee, possibly as a precautionary measure, started his bowling practice at a trot.

He then also participated in fielding drills to test his knee. Mohammad Shami soon put all fears to rest over his fitness as he played a fiery spell in the long run-up. The fast bowler bowled to the likes of Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma in the nets and gave them trouble with pace and bounce, PTI reported .

Mohammed Shami bowled at full strength for nearly 45 minutes without the help of the team’s physio or fitness coach. After the bowling session, he was seen having a discussion with bowling coach Morne Morkel.

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Mohammad Shami limps:

While Mohammad Shami didn’t look in any discomfort while bowling in the nets, his limping back to the dressing room did worry many. Later, he returned to the ground and was seen gingerly communicating with his old Bengals teammates while carefully controlling his heavily strapped left knee.

At the same time, Shami has also been named in the Indian team’s squad for the International ICC Champions Trophy next month. Shami’s fitness is very important for the Indian team as Jasprit Bumrah is not yet fully fit.

“In any case, I don’t think his fitness has anything to do with white-ball cricket. We are trying to get him to go to Australia,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said while announcing the Champions Trophy 2025 squad at a press conference .

“Unfortunately, his knees did not allow him to play four-day or five-day cricket. Regarding the white-ball, I think he played most of Syed Mushtaq Ali and Vijay Haza Some of Seoul’s games.”