Veteran paceman Mohammed Shami could be summoned as India seek more support for strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah
India captain Rohit Sharma is imploring more players to step up in support of strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah after the tourists lost the second Test by 10 wickets in Adelaide.
Veteran paceman Mohammed Shami is still in India and in the final stages of his rehabilitation from a serious ankle injury but could yet play a role in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
With the series locked at one-all ahead of the third Test at the Gabba starting on Saturday, Sharma says the “door is very much open” for Shami to join the squad.
Shami hasn’t played for India since last year’s 50-over World Cup final in November last year. His most recent Test was in June last year.
The 34-year-old had ankle surgery last February but returned to action in India’s domestic ranks last month and has since played seven Twenty20 games.
“We want to be very, very careful,” Sharma told reporters after the Adelaide Test.
“We don’t want to bring him here … and he plays and he pulls up sore or something happens.
“We want to be more than 100 per cent sure with him because it has been such a long time that he has not played (international) cricket.
“And to be fair to him, we don’t want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team.
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“There are some professionals that are monitoring him … we will take the call on what those guys feel because they are the ones watching him every game.”
Shami would bolster an Indian pace attack spearheaded by Bumrah, who has taken 12 wickets at an average of 11.25 in the opening two Tests.
Although Harshit Rana and Mohammad Siraj have had their moments in the series, Rana went wicketless in Adelaide while Siraj struggled to make an impact with the new ball.
Sharma said Bumrah, the world’s No.1 ranked bowler, shouldn’t be exclusively relied on for India to defeat Australia.
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“It’s a great thing to have someone like Bumrah but he’s not the only one who is going to get the job done every time,” Sharma said.
“The other guys have to take that responsibility … there are times when Bumrah will not get wickets and the other guys needs to step in.
“And that is how we talk within our batting group as well … share the responsibility.
Australia v India | Second Test | Day Three
“It’s not about just one individual or two individuals.
“If you want to win the Test match, the series, everyone needs to share that responsibility of putting their hand up and getting the job done.
“That is something I have seen within the group for many years now – it’s not the case now.”
NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series v India
First Test: India won by 295 runs
Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets
Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT
Australia squad (for second Test): Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal
This post is an official press release by Cricket Australia (CA).
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