Mohammed Shami’s Fitness Concerns for England Tour

Mohammed Shami might miss Team India’s England tour starting June 20. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will soon announce the squad for the five-Test series. However, the BCCI medical team reports that Shami may not be fit to bowl long spells.

Fitness Concerns and Team Selection

The medical team suggests that the 34-year-old may not be fit for all five matches. There were talks of including him in a few games. But the team is also considering Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness.

Bumrah has told the board he can only play three Tests. Selectors are now unsure about taking two bowlers with fitness issues. The team prefers fully-fit pacers who can handle long spells.

Shami’s Current Performance

Shami is currently bowling four overs in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, the board and selectors are unsure if he can bowl more than 10 overs in a day. Test matches in England may require longer spells from pacers. The team can’t take chances.

Shami has taken only six wickets in nine IPL 2025 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad. His economy rate is 11.23. With SRH out of the playoffs, he has started practicing with the red Dukes ball, used in England.

Cricket Veterans Support Shami

Former selectors MSK Prasad, Devang Gandhi, Jatin Paranjpe, and Gagan Khoda believe Shami should be part of India’s Test squad for the England tour.

Core Players and Young Talents

All four selectors agree on core players. Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah (as captain), Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, and Arshdeep Singh appear in every squad.

They also include promising youngsters like:

• Sai Sudharsan
• Nitish Reddy
• Dhruv Jurel

Differences in Opinion

Gagan Khoda wants KL Rahul to be the captain. This is unique as others prefer Bumrah. Also, MSK and Gagan give Gill the vice-captain role, while Devang Gandhi chose Rishabh Pant.

Jatin Paranjpe and Khoda added Shardul Thakur as an all-rounder. Paranjpe is the only one to include Sarfaraz Khan, while Shreyas Iyer was chosen by Gandhi and Paranjpe.

Khoda is the only one to pick Karun Nair, while Prasad includes Washington Sundar.