“Where is he when it comes to recovery?” - Former India head coach slams team management over absence of key player in BGT 2024-25

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has questioned the team management regarding Mohammed Shami's progress and absence from the entirety of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. The right-arm pacer was not included in the squad for the five-match affair and was not even flown in midway through the series despite consistently competing for Bengal in the domestic circuit.

During the series, Team India skipper Rohit Sharma had lamented the lack of communication from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) over Shami's recovery. The pacer faced several setbacks after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon in February 2024, causing him to miss the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the T20 World Cup.

The Men in Blue missed Shami's prowess and experience Down Under, as India lost 3-1. Spearhead Jasprit Bumrah had to shoulder most of the bowling load, with his support group - Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, and Prasidh Krishna - lagging behind.

Shastri opined that Shami should have been part of the original squad and should have completed his rehabilitation with the team.

“To be honest, I was very surprised with the communication going on in the media as to what exactly happened to Mohammed Shami. Where is he when it comes to recovery? He's been sitting in the NCA for I don't know how long. Why can't proper communication come out on where he stands? A player of his ability, I would have brought him to Australia," Ravi Shastri said on the ICC Review.

“I would have kept him part of the team and made sure that his rehabilitation was done with the team. And then if we thought by the third Test match that no, this guy can't play the rest of the series, I would let him go," Shastri added.

Shami returned to action in the Ranji Trophy clash against Madhya Pradesh. He then played all of Bengal's matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and is now involved in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

"I think things could have been completely different here in Australia" - Ricky Ponting feels India made a grave error by not including Mohammed Shami

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting also believes Mohammed Shami should have been part of the Indian squad, at least for the latter half of the series. He said Shami would have made a significant impact even in an under-cooked state as the workload was not an issue with the depth India had in their bowling.

"I was really surprised when he wasn't flown out even halfway through the series, two Test matches in. India's make-up obviously had Nitish Reddy there. So you had another seam bowling all-rounder anyway," Ponting said on ICC Review.

“So if Shami, even if he wasn't fully fit, if he had to bowl fewer overs in a day, you had a backup seam bowling option to help him out and I think he could have been the difference. If Shami, Bumrah and Siraj were in their starting team, I think things could have been completely different here in Australia," he added.

Bumrah ended the series as the leading wicket-taker with 32 scalps, but the rest of the bowling group could not put pressure from the other end consistently.