ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Virat Kohli reveals why Mohammed Shami was not included in the playing XI against Pakistan

After defeating arch-rivals Pakistan comprehensively in their first match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, the Indian cricket team get ready to take on Sri Lanka in their 2^nd encounter at the Oval in London on June 8.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference one day prior to the match, Indian captain Virat Kohli opened up about a number of matters ranging from India's game plan against Sri Lanka to certain aspects about the match against Pakistan.

“Shami hasn't played 50 over cricket for a long time I'm glad he bowled well in practice games but I felt Umesh, Bumrah, and Bhuvi had more match practice and performances to back that up in the last few series we played,” he said when questioned about why Mohammed Shami was not included in the match against Pakistan.

“A bowler like Shami will always be in your set up because we know about his ability. He’s that sort of a guy who can win you games in any kind of circumstances. He’s feeling his way back into the groove and God forbid something happens to someone in the team, we have Shami who is ready to bowl and prove himself. So that just shows our bench strength,” he concluded.

Shami hasn’t played in an ODI since the 2015 ODI World Cup and his career has constantly been hampered by injuries over the past couple of years. He even missed out in the squad for the Test series against Australia as he was recovering from a knee injury he picked up during the Test series against England towards the end of last year.

In addition to that, just like Kohli mentioned, the pace trio of Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been performing exceptionally well over the past 12 months or so and deserve a place in the playing XI ahead of Shami. Umesh picked up three wickets against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy while Bhuvi picked up one.

Kohli did not open up about the batting or bowling combinations in the press conference and said that the team was yet to decide the combination. We could expect the same playing XI in the match against Sri Lanka as well.

However, if India wins their match against Sri Lanka, they would most likely qualify for the semifinals of the tournament. In that case, we could witness Shami play a part in the match against South Africa.