‘Why Can’t Proper Communication Come Out’: Shastri Calls Out Team India Over Mishandling Of Shami’s Fitness Management

Australia was successful in capturing the 2024–25 Border Gavaskar Trophy series with a colossal lead and established themselves as a premier team in the red-ball series. It wasn’t meant for Team India, who had won the Perth Test, even though they displayed temperament. After ten years, the Australians could bring the coveted title home after winning the Sydney Test 3-1. The team’s future in red-ball cricket has been called into question in several ways. Mohammad Shami’s exclusion from the series despite showing encouraging signs of recovery was one of the contentious decisions. Ravi Shastri questions the team management handling the situation as he is unable to comprehend it.

While playing for Bengal, Mohammad Shami has been active in the domestic circuit and has put on a strong display in all three formats. Regretfully, the BCCI medical team declared him officially out before the fourth Test in Melbourne, citing knee swelling. Ravi Shastri thinks it would have been possible to push Shami for a trip to Australia and a return towards the end of the series.

“To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Mohammad Shami. 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. Absolutely, there’s no question about that (Shami could have tilted the series in Melbourne or Sydney).

“I would have kept him part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team. 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. 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,” Ravi Shastri stated during an appearance in The ICC Review.

Right now, Team India has a lot of questions to answer. Apart from vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah and the team’s middle order, no other players managed to give the Aussies a tough time while Down Under. Because of his poor coaching performance in Test cricket, even head coach Gautam Gambhir is under the radar. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s futures are now uncertain. They will have to work to regain their form before the Champions Trophy 2025, an ICC tournament that is coming up.