"I am ready to go, but only if there is no pain" - Mohammed Shami on his availability for South Africa Test series  

Team India pacer Mohammed Shami has disclosed that his availability for the upcoming two-match away Test series against South Africa depends on his knee injury.

The 33-year-old, who stated that his knee has been troubling him for quite some time now, mentioned that he has to undergo some tests before deciding if he will be able to tour South Africa for the two Tests.

Shami said during an interview with Sports Tak:

"I am ready to go, but only if there is no pain. There was some irritation in my knee for a very long time. I will have to get some tests and checkups done. So, if it is at the stage where it won't trouble me again, I will surely go for the Test series."

The seasoned campaigner also expressed his desire to feature in India's squad for the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup.

"Obviously, I am ready. I will try to make sure that we don't make the same mistakes again," Shami added.

Shami was in exceptional form at the 2023 World Cup, finishing as the leading wicket-taker with 24 scalps from just seven outings.

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"We were very close to winning the World Cup" - Mohammed Shami

Team India dominated every opposition that came their way at the 2023 World Cup, completing a 10-match winning streak ahead of the all-important final against Australia.

However, the Men in Blue's juggernaut came to a screeching halt with Australia's six-wicket win in the summit clash.

Opening up on India's campaign, Mohammed Shami said:

"Since the day I reached home, that has been the only topic of discussion at home or with my friends. It keeps on repeating, and I feel that we were very close to winning the World Cup."

India needed to defend a 241-run target in the final. Recalling the match, the fast bowler opined that the hosts would have gained the upper hand had the spinners managed to take a couple of wickets after the good start by the seamers.

"We are able to take three early wickets in the final. I was confident that we just needed one more wicket. It was going through my mind that if our spinners would take one or two wickets, the game was ours," Shami elaborated.

Shami acknowledged how Rohit Sharma and company received unwavering support from the fans throughout the tournament and went on to suggest that he didn't come across a single negative individual during the 2023 World Cup.

"If you look at our World Cup journey, right from day one, the whole country enjoyed the effort and the game we showed. There was not even 0.001 percent chance of finding a negative person who believed that India wouldn't win the World Cup. It was wonderful to see that kind of support for us," he explained.