While announcing the Test squad late last month, the BCCI had said that Shami was “currently undergoing medical treatment” and that his inclusion was subject to fitness. A media release on Saturday confirmed that Shami “was not cleared by BCCI’s medical team” and was subsequently withdrawn from the squad.
Shami last featured in a Test in June when he played the World Test Championship final against Australia. He was rested for the Caribbean tour that followed to manage his workload ahead of India’s busy white-ball season that ended with the 2023 ODI World Cup, where Shami topped the wicket-takers’ chart.
The selectors haven’t named a replacement for Shami. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar and Shardul Thakur are the other fast bowlers in the touring party.
Bharat named Kishan replacement
As for Chahar, he also missed the T20Is in South Africa last week. Chahar made his comeback during the T20Is at home against Australia last month, but featured in just one game – the fourth game in Raipur – before flying home for personal reasons.
Iyer is likely to play the intra-squad three-day fixture in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test. His last Test was against Australia in March, after which he was sidelined with a back injury. It’s likely Iyer will reclaim his middle-order spot, which had been occupied by Ajinkya Rahane in his absence.
With Rahul Dravid and his team of Vikram Rathour (batting coach), Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach) and T Dilip (fielding coach) involved in preparing the Test squad for the two-match series, India’s second assignment in this WTC cycle, the ODI side will be assisted by India A’s coaching staff: Sitanshu Kotak (batting coach), Rajib Datta (bowling coach) and Ajay Ratra (fielding coach).
India’s updated Test squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KS Bharat (wk), KL Rahul (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Prasidh Krishna.
India’s updated ODI squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad, B Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Rajat Patidar, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (capt, wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep
This article was updated when news of Ishan Kishan missing the Test series came in.
