Aakash Chopra raises concerns on Mohammed Shami’s return to Indian cricket team

Team India’s failure to chase down England’s total, which has kept the series alive for both teams, marked the end of the third Twenty20 International. This was made even more frustrating by the fact that, despite Mohammed Shami’s eagerly anticipated comeback to international cricket, the team was unable to deliver.

Notably, Varun Chakravarthy stole the show with the ball, taking five wickets in T20Is against England for the second time in his career. However, Shami may have given up 25 runs in his three overs and gone wicketless in the game. Some experts still think Shami isn’t ready for upcoming tournaments, despite the fact that he still displayed flashes of genius in the game with the new ball.

One of the experts who raised this issue was Aakash Chopra, a former Indian cricket player who is now a commentator. In addition to criticizing Captain Suryakumar Yadav for not giving Mohammed Shami his entire allotment of four overs, Chopra questioned why his speed had decreased.

“Shami has returned. We all watched Shami bowl, but is he truly back? The more important question is that. Shami’s arrival to bowl on the ground makes you joyful, but that is not the end of the world. On his YouTube channel, Chopra stated, “You need the Mohammed Shami who left 436 days ago because even if it’s one notch lower than that, it won’t work out.”

He wasn’t given just the fourth over by the captain. At the end, he awarded him only one over. He could have offered two. Since eight or nine wickets had already been lost, he could have done it. The seam was a little skewed in the first over, which is why you say there was no pressure at the end. It demonstrates that in the first over, the zero-seam Shami was not quite present. Then he too had a significant swing. Between November 19, 2023, and January 28, 2025, there was a difference of roughly 8–10 kph,” Chopra said.

Mohammed Shami’s last participated in the ODI World Cup for India.

For the uninitiated, Mohammed Shami’s most recent white ball competition was the ODI World Cup in 2023, where he amassed 24 wickets from seven games, setting a new record. He played at an average of 10.70 with an economy of 5.26 during the competition.