Sydney: Ravi Shastri and Ricky Ponting have queried the decision not to fly Mohammed Shami over for the Border-Gavaskar series, in the hope the fast bowler could have boosted the tourists’ chances in Australia.
Despite not playing international cricket since the 2023 Cricket World Cup Final, sidelined by an ankle for which he underwent surgery in early 2024, the fast bowler turned out in domestic red-ball cricket before the Test series began, leading to hopes of contribution at some stage in Australia.
He was officially ruled out of contention before the fourth Test in Melbourne with the BCCI medical team citing subsequent knee swelling, though both Ponting and Shastri believe a trip to Australia and a return late in series could have been pushed.
“Absolutely, there's no question about that,” Shastri stated when asked by Sanjana Ganesan in the latest The ICC Review if the quick could have tilted the series in Melbourne or Sydney.
“To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Mohammed Shami," Shastri said.
“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.
Instead of the late call on the quick from afar, Shastri believes the alternative of bringing him on tour with the group may have been more beneficial for India’s chances.
“I would have kept him part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team,” Shastri added.
“And then if we thought by the third Test match that no, this guy can't play the rest of the series,
I would let him go," he said.
“But I would have brought him with the team, kept him, monitored him with the best of the physios and best of the advice even from international physios who are in Australia and seeing how he went. But I would have kept him in the mix,” Shastri said.
Ponting shared Shastri’s sentiment, before going on to emphasise how important the quick could have been at the backend of the series.
“I was really surprised when he wasn't flown out even halfway through the series, two Test matches in,” Ponting told The ICC Review.
“India's make-up obviously had Nitish Reddy there. So you had another seam bowling all-rounder anyway," he said.
“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.
“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," he said.
“If Shami, Bumrah and Siraj were in their starting team, I think things could have been completely different here in Australia,” Ponting said.
When looking at his potential impact, Shastri believes the fast bowler could have provided adequate help for Jasprit Bumrah, who too struggled with fitness at the end of the series.
“It got so tight at 1-1 going into Melbourne,” he said.
“You just needed that experience and support. For all you know, he might have raised the bar as well. And it would have been the two guys there (Bumrah and Shami)," Shastri said.
“Pat Cummins couldn't have done it on his own, Scotty Boland had to step in. So you needed a bowler of his experience. You know, as hard as Mohammed Siraj tried, you needed Shami's experience there,” he added.
Shami has made domestic limited-overs appearances for Bengal in the new year in the hope to
make India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy, beginning in February 2025.
