Shami blow for India ahead of Boxing Day Test

Cricket powerhouse India suffered a blow on Monday when a medical team ruled out pacer Mohammed Shami’s participation in the final two matches of the ongoing five-match series against hosts Australia.

Shami has missed the first three matches of the series -- locked at 1-1 -- but was expected to join the Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for the Boxing Day Test.

The right-arm pacer has been on a road to recovery and has played a few domestic matches since his right heel surgery, which kept him away from international cricket for months.

“However, his left knee has exhibited minor swelling due to increased joint loading from his bowling workload,” Devajit Saikia of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement on Monday.

Both Indian fans and critics expected Shami to join Bumrah, rated as one of the best fast bowlers of this generation, for the final two games.

Bumrah has stood out for his match-turning performances in Australia but critics have argued that he has lacked support from the other end in Shami’s absence.

“Based on the current medical assessment, the BCCI Medical Team has determined that his (Shami’s) knee requires more time for controlled exposure to bowling loads,” Saikia added.

“Consequently, he has not been deemed fit for consideration for the remaining two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”

Mumbai’s off-spin all-rounder Tanush Kotian has earned a surprise call-up to join the Indian team as an additional player, BCCI informed on Monday.

Sources have earlier in the day told IANS that Kotian, who’s currently representing Mumbai in the league stage matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Ahmedabad, will depart for Australia on Tuesday afternoon.

“Axar Patel was supposed to go to Australia, but with the birth of his first child, he’s gone back home and Kotian has been asked to join the Test team in Melbourne,” the source said.

Kotian is currently one of the best off-spin all-rounders in the Indian domestic circuit. He was previously part of the India A team which toured Australia for two four-day matches in Mackay and Melbourne ahead of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. The BCCI confirmed the news later in the evening via a statement issued by Saikia.

“The Men’s Selection Committee has named all-rounder Tanush Kotian as an addition to India’s squad for the fourth and fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“The off-spinner from Mumbai has played 33 first-class matches, taking 101 wickets at an average of 25.70. In addition to his bowling achievements, Kotian has three five-wicket hauls and has scored two centuries and 13 half-centuries. He was part of the India A squad and participated in the second first-class game against Australia A at the Melbourne Cricket Ground,” Saikia said in the statement.

He will now be one of the three spin-bowling all-rounder options for India alongside the off-spin of Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin. While Sundar played the first Test in Perth, Jadeja featured in the third match of the series in Brisbane.

In the 2023/24 Ranji Trophy season, Kotian picked 29 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 16.96. He also amassed 502 runs with the bat, including five half-centuries and one century to earn Player of the Tournament in Mumbai’s 42nd Ranji title triumph.

Overall, Kotian has played 33 first-class matches – scoring 2,523 runs at an average of 41.21, while picking 101 wickets and averaging 25.7, including three five-wicket hauls. In Monday’s Group C match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Kotian was named Player of the Match after an all-round showing of 2-38 and making 39 not out off 37 balls with the bat to give Mumbai a three-wicket victory.

Earlier, India’s ace off spinner-all rounder Ravichandran Ashwin announced a sudden retirement after the third game.

With series on the line, Australia have added teenage opener Sam Konstas to the squad for the first time.

The 19-year-old is poised to open alongside veteran Usman Khawaja -- twice his age at 38 -- at a sold-out Melbourne Cricket Ground after Nathan McSweeney was axed after just three Tests. Meanwhile, ahead of the Boxing Day Test, veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara has expressed concerns over the visitors’ bowling line-up looking weak, adding that currently the combination is not good enough to pick 20 wickets collectively.

Indo-Asian News Service