Bumrah's pace partner makes himself available for Champions Trophy

Pacer Mohammed Shami, who had a lengthy absence from the national side due to injury, has made himself available for selection as India hope to recover from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy setback ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy set to begin on February 19.

"Precision, pace and passion. All set to take on the world," posted Shami on social media by tagging 'Team India'. The post comes right on time as the BCCI is expected to announce its squad for the Champions Trophy next week. Shami last played for India in an ODI against Australia in Ahmedabad in November 2023.

Shami is expected to be included in the squad for the upcoming series against England. India play five T20Is and three ODIs against the visiting England side, between January 22 and February 12.

Shami's return to the fold is expected to bolster India's pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah. The Champions Trophy will be held in Pakistan. However, India's matches are scheduled to be held in the UAE due to diplomatic tension between the neighbouring countries.

Ravi Shastri and Ricky Ponting were surprised not to find Shami in Australia, where India surrendered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 1-3. Shami had been hitting the deck hard in Indian domestic cricket while the national team struggled Down Under.

"To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Mohammed Shami," Shastri told The ICC Review. "Where is he when it comes to recovery? He's been sitting in the NCA for I don't know how long. Why can't proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia," he said. "Absolutely, there's no question about that (Shami could have tilted the series in Melbourne or Sydney)," said the former India head coach.

Former Australia captain Ponting echoed Shastri's views. "I was really surprised when he wasn't flown out even halfway through the series, two Test matches in. India's make-up obviously had Nitish Reddy there. So you had another seam-bowling all-rounder anyway. So, if Shami, even if he wasn't fully fit, if he had to bowl fewer overs in a day, you had a backup seam bowling option to help him out and I think he could have been the difference," Ponting said.

The World Cup winner added: "When you asked me (in an earlier The ICC Review) at the start about what I thought the result would be, I said 3-1 Australia because Shami wasn't there. That was the first thing I said. That's how important I felt he was to India. If Shami, Bumrah and Siraj were in their starting team, I think things could have been completely different here in Australia."