File image of Mohammed Shami© AFP
The ongoing Test series against New Zealand is a good opportunity for India to prepare for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. The five-match Test series will be played in the Down Under, starting from November 22. The conditions in Australia will be challenging but Rohit Sharma and co are highly confident, courtesy of India's victory over there in the previous two editions of the BGT. Ahead of the highly-anticipated series, fans around the world are waiting for the return of India pacer Mohammed Shami.
Shami 's last appearance for India came in the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia. Since then, the pacer underwent a surgery for his knee injury and has been recovering from it since then.
Earlier this month, a report from the Times of India stated that Shami suffered a swollen during a practice session, which can affect his participation in the Tests against Australia. However, in a recent interaction with NDTV, the star pacer has confirmed that his knee is now fine and he is looking forward to play domestic cricket.
"I have said this numerous times that I have not suffered any new injury. One day can go bad, maybe your decisions will go wrong. Not right to blame anyone. Out of 365 days, one day can go wrong," Shami told NDTV in an exclusive chat.
"It is important to believe in the team and the skill. I am hoping to play at least one domestic match and be fully fit for the Australia series. That is my mindset," he added.
Apart from this, Shami during an interaction with ANI, also spoke about India's loss against Australia in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023.
"We should have won the final. We should not blame anyone, we cannot question anything. If we look at it from the batting point of view, it's not that we did not look to score runs," Shami told ANI.
"Our target was not limited. From the bowling side, we gave 100 per cent effort. There was a luck factor for them. We were almost unbeaten. We always wanted to win. The whole country was with us, their blessings were with us. Only one thing was missing, that we could not win the final. That was not our day," he added.
(With ANI Inputs)