Is a fast bowler approaching 36 in the 2026 T20 World Cup and 37 in the 2027 ODI edition a risk that the selectors are unwilling to accept? Instead, are they phasing him out of their long-term plans? Or was it simply a breakdown in communication regarding health issues, as chief selector Ajit Agarkar once suggested, an explanation that Mohammed Shami dismissed as having nothing to do with him?
Whenever the Indian team omits Shami’s name, these questions follow. Everyone knows him: the jarring seams, the unfixable wobbles and the habit of showing up to big games and walking away with bigger gains. However, despite such familiarity, his absence from the Indian team has now become a recurring topic.
India are understandably wary of pinning their World Cup hopes on two high-quality but injury-prone thirty-something fast bowlers in Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. With the domestic pace narrower, there is an instinct to invest in younger bodies sooner rather than later. Even harder to justify is ignoring ancestry.
Shami is India’s highest wicket-taker in the ODI World Cup: 55 wickets in 18 games at an average of 13.5. Recent data only reinforces his point. In the four Ranji Trophy matches for Bengal, Shami averaged 20 balls per innings and claimed 20 wickets at an average of 18.6. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he took 16 wickets in 7 games. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 11 points in 5 games with 22.5 points.
Shami played a crucial role in India’s Champions Trophy 2025, taking 9 scalps in 5 games. However, he is excluded from the Central contract through the 2025-26 season.
Shami’s long-time coach Badruddin Siddiqui did not hide his frustration. “He had a fire inside him,” he said. “He was serious about playing for India. I always told him – play karts: India needs you,” he said. For Siddiqui, the equation is simple. A cricketer’s job is to perform; a selector’s job is to take decisions. “Age should never be a factor. Fitness, performance and enthusiasm: that’s what matters.”
Siddiqui believes that domestic cricket is too easily ignored. “It’s not easy to bowl 25 overs in a day,” he said. “No bowler can replace him. There’s a lot left in him.”
Former Delhi pacer Sanjeev Sharma provides a more nuanced perspective. “There is a big difference between domestic cricket and international cricket,” he said. “Even T20 internationals require a lot of effort from you: in fielding, bending and chasing the ball. There is no place to hide in international cricket.”
“Perhaps Shami is not yet at the exact level of match fitness that the selectors wanted him to be,” Sharma pointed out.
He said there might have been a communication problem. But Sharma was unequivocal about Shami’s abilities.
“Technically speaking, he is the second-best fast bowler after Bumrah. There is no doubt in my mind that Shami will return.” There is more competition around Shami – Arshdeep Singh’s left-arm angle, Siraj’s stamina, Harshit Rana’s development. But competition does not eliminate class. “The performance speaks for itself,” Siddiqui said. “Bilkul wapas aayega: He will be back,” he added.