A few days back, former India captain and coach Ravi Shastri had raised questions about the lack of clarity over the availability of pace bowler Mohammed Shami, who has not played an international match since the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup.

There were expectations that Shami would join the Indian team after the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia but did not appear.
To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Mohammed 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
The Senior National Selection Committee on Saturday provided the answer to the question on Shami by picking the injured pacer in India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against England starting from January 22 in Kolkata.
The selectors also brought in spinner Varun Chakravarthy while resting wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant for the series which will be followed by three ODIs.
The Men’s Selection Committee has picked India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming IDFC First Bank five-match T20I series against England starting from 22nd January in Kolkata.
Shami made a successful comeback to professional cricket through Bengal’s fifth-round match in the Ranji Trophy against Madhya Pradesh at Indore, where he took seven wickets in his team’s win.
He also led the Bengal bowling attack in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy recently, picking up nine wickets in 11 games at an economy rate of 7.85, with a best of 3-21 against Hyderabad.
With Pant being rested, Sanju Samson has retained his place in the side following an excellent performance during India’s tour of South Africa in which he scored two centuries.
SPORTS NEWS
Show more newsAs Kuldeep Yadav is still undergoing rehab for hernia surgery, Chakaravarthy has got another chance following his impressive outings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as he took 18 wickets, including consecutive five-wicket hauls, to be the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. Chakravarthy was excellent in its T20I series wins against Bangladesh and South Africa, Nitesh Kumar Reddy has also been named in the squad after his impressive performances in the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy series.
India squad:
- Suryakumar Yadav (C)
- Sanju Samson (wk)
- Abhishek Sharma
- Tilak Varma
- Hardik Pandya
- Rinku Singh
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Axar Patel (vc)
- Harshit Rana
- Arshdeep Singh
- Mohammad Shami
- Varun Chakaravarthy
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Washington Sundar
- Dhruv Jurel (wk)


