Image Credit- BCCI
Indian pace spearhead Mohammad Shami has successfully undergone surgery
on his Achilles Tendon in London, and has expressed his desire to make a comeback
to the game as quickly as possible. However, that comeback will not be in the
IPL as the surgery has almost certainly confirmed his absence from the 2-month
long tournament that starts on the 22nd of March.
Shami last played for India in the 2023 World Cup,
where he was the leading wicket-taker in the quadrennial event with 24 scalps
at an average of 10.70 and a strike rate of 12.20. He had been suffering from
pain throughout the course of the tournament, but bravely soldiered on as he
kept taking painkilling injections to alleviate the effects as the tournament
wore on. He has since not been in action in any capacity.
While Shami was pretty upbeat about his chances of
making it in time for the marquee series against England, saying that he was almost
ready to play in early January, he was enrolled into the NCA a little later,
thereby ruling out a comeback completely.
The Bengal pacer’s injury comes at a testing time for his
IPL franchise. Gujarat Titans are a team in transition, having already lost
their skipper Hardik Pandya to a trade with the Mumbai Indians, and with
Shubman Gill appointed as their new skipper. His absence will test the
fast-bowling stocks of last season’s finalists as well, as his 27 wickets last
season were the second-highest in last season’s wicket-taking charts, one behind
his teammate Rashid Khan.
He is also anticipated to miss the forthcoming T20
World Cup, which starts in the USA and the Caribbean five days after the IPL
ends, due to the injury.