When the Ajit Agarkar-led senior selection panel meets on Saturday to finalize the squad for the New Zealand ODI series starting on January 11, the debate will once again revolve around the balance between workload and readiness, youth and experience, current needs and future planning, keeping the 2027 World Cup in mind. Somewhere in that conversation sits a name that, despite overwhelming evidence, is slowly emerged from the frame: Mohammed Shami.
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Shami has not played for India since the Champions Trophy in March 2025. The explanation offered since then has been consistent: fitness concerns. However, the evidence on the pitch tells a different story – one that bears repeating phased out of Cheteshwar PujaraAjinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav: players phased out not by a drop in performance but by a growing reluctance to rely on experience.
To be fair, there was at least a cricketing explanation in the cases of Pujar and Rahane. Both have gone through long slumps in form and the selectors have consciously decided to look ahead and promote younger batsmen to carry India into the next cycle of the Test World Cup. However, this logic does not conveniently apply to Shami. He hasn’t just remained relevant in one-day internationals – he’s been India’s most decisive fast bowler in high-stakes tournaments, a record that makes his extended absence increasingly difficult to rationalize.
THE NUMBERS ARE TALKING
Since the 2023 ODI World Cup, Shami has taken 35 wickets in 14 matches. Twenty-four of those goals came in just seven appearances at the World Cup, where he finished as the tournament’s top wicket-taker, delivering match-defining spells in a variety of venues and conditions. Notably, he played only one ODI after that World Cup before being selected for the Champions Trophy – not due to lack of form, but due to a serious ankle injury sustained during the 2023 Cricket World Cup final, forcing him to miss a year from international cricket, including surgery and extended rehabilitation.
Even there, with minimal playing time behind him, Shami made his presence felt. In the Champions Trophy 2025, he took nine wickets in five matches and finished as India’s joint-highest wicket-taker in the competition. This tournament marked his last appearance for the senior national team.
These are not numbers based on reputation or memory. They are recent, relevant and directly linked to India’s success in global events. In fact, in major ODI tournaments since 2023, Shami’s strike-rate and wicket-taking impact have matched – and at stages surpassed – Jasprit Bumrah, India’s pace leader across all formats. In a format where breakthroughs and mid-order control are crucial, Shami’s skill set continues to address very real needs. And his seam position is still the envy of the fast bowling world.
FITNESS – OR A PROBLEM WITH PERCEPTION?
Mohammed Shami has been in good form in domestic cricket (PTI Photo)
The selectors have repeatedly cited fitness concerns to explain Shami’s absence. Yes, Shami had a memorable IPL 2025 season and struggled to find a rhythm for SunRisers Hyderabad. But his domestic workload in 2025-26 offers a permanent rebuttal. In the Ranji Trophy, he took 20 wickets in four matches, including five wickets, bowling the type of long, demanding spells that test both stamina and recovery. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India’s premier domestic 50-over-50 competition, he took eight wickets in four matches at an economy rate of under six. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he added 16 wickets in seven matches, including two four-wicket hauls.
This spread matters. It shows not just availability but adaptability – across red-ball durability, control over 50 and T20 intensity. If fitness is any measure, Shami has met him repeatedly and publicly.
SHAMI IN HOME SEASON 2025-26
TournamentsMatches GoalsRanji Trophy420Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy716Vijay Hazare Trophy48
It was therefore not difficult to understand the frustration at the words of Shami’s personal trainer Badruddin after his exclusion from the November 2025 South Africa Test series.
“My point is simple – they’re ignoring him, that’s for sure. No other reason makes sense to me. He’s not ineligible,” Badruddin said. Pointing to Shami’s recent red-ball returns, he added, “When a player takes 15 wickets in two games, he doesn’t look out of place,” Badruddin said IndiaToday.in.
More importantly, Badruddin termed Shami’s absence as a missed opportunity rather than a calculated omission.
“They should have kept Shami for the spin, which would have helped reduce Bumrah’s workload – because Bumrah cannot play three-and-a-half Tests in a row,” he said.
It’s an argument that resonates even more now.
With the T20 World Cup starting on February 7, India have a golden opportunity to rest their bowlers for the World Cup and let Shami lead the charge. Why did Bumrah or Hardik Pandya play three weeks before the T20 World Cup?
Shami at 35 is not a long-term project. But that shouldn’t automatically make him expendable. If India are indeed planning an ODI World Cup in 2027, clarity – both in selection philosophy and communication – matters. Shami doesn’t need assurances of permanence, but he deserves to know if he’s still part of that roadmap, especially as his ODI record ranks him among India’s most effective fast bowlers in the history of the format.
LESSONS FROM THE PAST
The recent past of Indian cricket offers a cautionary tale. Pujara and Rahane were dropped as India chased a revival in Test cricket. Ishant and Umesh followed as India pivoted towards younger fast bowlers. In any case, the transition was explained as necessary and focused on the future. In any case, the experience was quietly lost without a clear succession plan fully in place.
Shami’s situation is uncomfortably similar – with one crucial difference. India have yet to find a similar ODI replacement to offer their combination of early movement, reverse swing and composure under tournament pressure. These are skills honed over time, not traits that emerge fully formed.
This is not an argument based on nostalgia or sympathy. It’s a case rooted in numbers, workload and context. Ever since Shami returned from a long injury lay-off after the 2023 World Cup, he has bowled volume, stayed fit and been able to play across formats. He has done exactly what selectors claim to appreciate: consistent performance and staying available.
The New Zealand ODI series offers a low-risk, high-reward opportunity to bring that experience back into the fold – not as a stopgap, but as a deliberate choice. Ignoring Shami now risks repeating a familiar mistake: realizing the value of experience only after it has been allowed to quietly fade from view.
When the selectors sit down, there is no question whether Mohammed Shami can still contribute. His record certainly lives up to that. The question is whether India is willing to remember what proven experience it still has to offer before joining the growing list of careers closed without a final, honest reckoning.
– The end
Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
January 3, 2026
