Career-threatening injury rules Mohammed Shami out of first half of BGT, recovery plans shattered

India have suffered a huge blow to their chances of defending the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 as fast bowler Mohammed Shami has suffered another injury in the lead-up to the series and is likely to miss the first half of the BGT, as per media reports. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin on November 22 in Perth between Australia and India.

Shami suffered a fresh knee injury recently which did not allow him to take part in Bengal's opening Ranji Trophy game. He was planned to play one or two Ranji Trophy matches before appearing for one of the Tests against New Zealand.

However, the knee injury diminished his hopes of an India return which also took the BCCI's medical team at the National Cricket Academy by shock. His rehab was going perfectly by the Sports Science Team which also increased his chances of appearing back for international cricket.

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Mohammed Shami suffers another injury

But his chances of going to Australia hit a big roadblock when he was diagnosed with a fresh knee injury recently. It is believed that Shami has swelled his knee which has forced him to start his rehab from the start.

It means that all of the work that he put in for his rehabilitation in the past few months went in vain and he will have to start again. This might take some time which can keep him out of the Test series against Australia.

"We want him to be 100% fit" - Rohit Sharma on Mohammed Shami

Recently, India's captain Rohit Sharma clearly stated that he wants Mohammed Shami to be fully fit for the Australia tour. Rohit clearly mentioned that he does not want Shami undercooked for the series against Australia.

“He is working with the physios, with the doctors at NCA. We are keeping our fingers crossed. We want him to be 100% fit, more than anything else. We don't want to bring an undercooked Shami to Australia,” Rohit said.

Rohit clearly focused upon Mohammed Shami to have some overs under his belt before being picked for Australia tour. However, given his recent injury, the chances of playing in any match of the New Zealand Test series are very low. Thus, he is likely to miss at least the initial part of the series.

Mohammed Shami's numbers in Australia

Mohammed Shami has a good record in Australia where he has picked up 37 wickets in eight Tests. His experience can prove to be handy for India in those conditions. However, his slow recovery is likely to hit India hard in a highly anticipated series of the year.

Shami was in sensational form in the ODI World Cup 2023 but suffered an injury midway through the tournament. However, he decided to have surgery earlier this year which forced him to miss two important tournaments, IPL 2024 and the T20 World Cup 2024.

After successful surgery in London, he completed the most part of his rehab before suffering the current injury. Since the ODI World Cup last year, he has not played any international match so far.