India left out Mohammed Shami from their squad for the upcoming five-match Test series in England.
India named an 18-member squad for the upcoming five Test matches in England. Shubman Gill will lead India for the first time in Test cricket, while Rishabh Pant has been named his deputy.
Mohammed Shami not picked for England Tests
Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead the fast bowlers, supported by Mohammed Siraj. The squad includes four other seamers, in Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, and the uncapped Arshdeep Singh, while Nitish Kumar Reddy bowls seam as well. Thakur’s batting ability will enable them to go with their tried-and-tested formula of three specialist bowlers (which may or may not include a spinner), Thakur, and one of their spin-bowling all-rounders, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja.
However, there was no place for Shami.
Why have India left out Mohammed Shami?
Shami has not played Test cricket since the 2021-2023 World Test Championship final, against Australia at The Oval. The selectors rested him for the West Indies tour, the first series of the 2023-2025 cycle. He picked up an injury after the 2023 World Cup final, and did not return to the limited-overs squad until India were done with their next five Test series.
However, Shami did return to domestic cricket and then to the T20Is and ODIs against England at home, in February. He was then part of the XI in all five games of India’s victorious Champions Trophy campaign, and has played nine games in the ongoing IPL. However, he has not played first-class cricket in 2025.
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At the squad announcement press conference, chief selector Ajit Agarkar explained the omission of Shami: “He’s been trying to get fit for the series ... but I think he’s had a little bit of a setback over the last week or so, and he’s got some MRIs done. And like you mentioned, I don’t think he was going to be able to play five Tests.
“At the moment, I don’t think his workload is where it needs to be, so it’s just the medical guys who’ve told us that he’s been ruled out of this series.
“Unfortunately, we were hoping that he’s available for some part of the series, at least. But if he’s not fit at the moment, it’s very difficult to keep waiting. It’s rather planned with the guys that are fit and available.
“So yeah, it’s unfortunate. A bowler like him, you always want to try and pick, but at the moment, he’s not fit to be picked.”
