"I'm Ready To Go If..." - Mohammed Shami Drops Bombshell On His Availability For SA Tests

Indian team’s star pacer Mohammed Shami has opened up on his availability for the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa.

He has revealed that his availability for the away series depends on his injury. The 33-year-old seamer stated that his knee has been troubling him for quite a considerable amount of time now, and mentioned that he has to undergo some tests before deciding on his availability for the two Tests.

Shami said during an interview with SportsTak, “I am ready to go, but only if there is no pain. There was some irritation in my knee for a very long time. I will have to get some tests and checkups done. So, if it is at the stage where it won’t trouble me again, I will surely go for the Test series.”

The seamer also expressed his desire to play for India in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024. “Obviously, I am ready. I will try to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes again,” Shami added.

Team India showed sheer domination against every opposition that came their way at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. They completed a 10-match winning streak reaching the finals. However, the Men in Blue were overpowered by Australia as the Aussies won the summit clash by six wickets.

Mohammed Shami Talks About The World Cup Final Loss Against Australia

Talking about India’s World Cup campaign, Mohammed Shami said, “Since the day I reached home, that has been the only topic of discussion at home or with my friends. It keeps on repeating, and I feel that we were very close to winning the World Cup.”

India were put into bat on a tricky Ahmedabad pitch and were restricted to 240 by Australia. Defending the target of 241, India was off to a good start as Australia lost three wickets under 50 runs. Mohammed Shami mentioned that if the spinners could have taken one or two wickets after the start provided by seamers, the World Cup could have been won by India.

“We were able to take three early wickets in the final. I was confident that we just needed one more wicket. It was going through my mind that if our spinners would take one or two wickets, the game was ours,” Shami elaborated.

Mohammed Shami acknowledged the overwhelming and unwavering support the fans had for Rohit Sharma and co. He mentioned that there was not a single negative individual that he came across during the finals. “If you look at our World Cup journey, right from day one, the whole country enjoyed the effort and the game we showed. There was not even a 0.001 per cent chance of finding a negative person who believed that India wouldn’t win the World Cup. It was wonderful to see that kind of support for us,” he explained.

India suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Australia in the finals of the World Cup. However, the team was the best throughout the tournament. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were the top two run-getters in the tournament while Mohammed Shami was the highest wicket-taker in the tournament taking 24 wickets in just seven games including three five-wicket hauls which is a world record in itself.