Shami Yet To Get NCA Clearance, Continues To Stay With Bengal Team

Mohammed Shami is unlikely to fly to Australia as he has still not gotten the clearance from the NCA, and the BCCI has still not decided whether he can book the flight to Australia or not. The issue is whether he can be sent instead of when.

Shami's fitness has been in discussions in recent times, the sports science wing of BCCI's NCA based in Bengaluru is yet to send its all-clearance report. According to reports an NCA team was sent to Rajkot to check on Shami's fitness who's currently involved in Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Bengal. One of the selectors from BCCI Mr. SS Das was sent to keep a tab on Shami's fitness along with NCA head Nitin Patel & a strength and conditioning trainer Nishantha Bardule.

Shami played for Bengal in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's national T20I tournament. Shami played 7 games for Bengal picking up 8 wickets upon comeback into the sport. The 34-year-old Shami is said to have made a very strong comeback after being away from the game for more than a year. But, the major is issue whether he is ready for a test match requiring the maximum energy of a bowler & more so against Australia in their conditions.

The reports that are coming in are not very optimistic about Shami's return to International Cricket via the BGT. It is revealed that he is not flying to Australia Immediately, he could be available for the fifth & final test match in Sydney Starting on Jan 3. The best case scenario for Shami would be to available for the boxing day test at Melbourne that starts on December 26. However, all this is a very overly optimistic situation at the moment, it is also being said that he might not travel to Australia at all, although his presence is being missed by Team India in the ongoing series.

The Bengal team has reached the knockout stages of the tournament where they will be locking horns against Chandigarh in the pre Quarterfinals in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Shami is expected to play in the Knockout matches for Bengal.

Shami was recently snapped up by the Sunrisers Hyderabad team for a hefty prize of 10 Crores in the mega auctions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. If Shami regains his fitness he'll be playing in the Indian Premier League(IPL) after one year. Shami had missed the 2024 season of the IPL due to an ankle injury for which he had to undergo an operation in London.