Suryakumar Yadav
IND vs ENG: The first T20 match was played between India and England in Kolkata. Mohammed was not included in Shami’s playing eleven in the first T20 match against England. Team India may have won this match played at Eden Gardens by 7 wickets, but in Eden Gardens, which is considered a paradise for fast bowlers, India gave a chance to three spinners, while Shami was kept out. This move raised concerns at the time as some questions were being raised about Shami’s fitness recently, and this decision was believed to be probably related to his fitness. However, captain Suryakumar Yadav later clarified that the decision was only strategic.
Fans were waiting for Shami
Indian cricket fans were waiting for Mohammed Shami’s return to international cricket for more than a year. He last participated in the 2023 ODI World Cup, when he suffered an ankle injury and later had to undergo surgery. Questions were raised over his fitness after the surgery, but he returned to domestic cricket in October 2024. He proved his fitness by playing all formats for Bengal and after this the selectors included him in the squad for the Champions Trophy. He was included in the squad for the home T20I series against England.
All the preparations for the first match of this series in Kolkata were based around Shami. He had expressed his desire to return to Indian cricket only two days ago. But, on match day Shami was benched, and India selected three spinners – Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi in the playing eleven. However, after this some people expressed concern about Shami’s fitness regarding playing, but Suryakumar answered it clearly.
What did Captain Surya say?
Suryakumar said after the match that we wanted to stick to our strengths. We adopted the same strategy in South Africa also. Hardik took the responsibility of bowling with the new ball, which allowed me to include additional spinners in the playing eleven. These three spinners were performing brilliantly. It became clear from this statement that the decision to keep Shami out was not related to fitness, but it was a strategic move.
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