IPL 2021: Mohammed Shami regains full fitness, expected to play full season for Punjab Kings
Mohammed Shami is a renowned seamer for Team India, who plays a vital part in India’s bowling attack. He had suffered a wrist injury a few months back but has regained full fitness ahead of the 2021 Indian Premier League stint with Punjab Kings.
FollowIndian seamer Mohammed Shami has been out of action for quite some time now, owing to an unfortunate wrist injury he suffered in Australia during India’s successful Border-Gavaskar Trophy title defence. As a result, he is currently not participating in the ongoing tour by England.
However, after being out of action for nearly three months, Shami has seemingly regained full fitness. It comes as welcome news for fans, especially his Indian Premier League franchise Punjab Kings, where he heads the side’s pace attack.
The news was confirmed by PK’s head coach Anil Kumble. “He is fine as far as I know. He is coming to the bio-bubble for the quarantine and he will be out in a few days. I know he hasn’t played any matches since his injury, but he is good to go. We are really looking forward to him playing a few practice games and then getting ready for the first game,” he told Sportstar.
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Shami, who PK roped in in 2019, has since played a top role and has been its consistent performer, as he finished as its highest wicket-taker last season, claiming 20 wickets in 14 innings at an economy of 8.57. Overall, Shami has good numbers in the IPL, claiming 60 in 63 games at 8.89.
Meanwhile, PK would highly rely on pacers, with as many as six specialist ones on the side, including Chris Jordan, Riley Meredith, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande and Arshdeep Singh. It also has a couple of pacers in the form of all-rounders: Moises Henriques and Jhye Richardson.
Speaking on the side’s pace attack, Kumble reckoned, “I think in the smaller auctions, people tend to forget that the options are minimal. Every team wants to reinforce and fill the gaps and since the options are lesser, you tend to spend a lot more on the players. We wanted to have a squad which gives us options in case we want to rotate a few of our fast bowlers. Even our young Indian pacers are exciting. It is a fairly long tournament and the conditions will be pretty hot.”
