There's a 'serious question mark' over Mohammed Shami, says Aakash Chopra

Earlier this month, Mohammed Shami almost broke an IPL record. That of the most expensive four-over spell in a game. He conceded 75 against Punjab Kings (PBKS), just one fewer than Jofra Archer's 76 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). You do go for runs in T20 cricket, but Shami hasn't looked himself in IPL 2025, and as Aakash Chopra put it, "he's not looking good" right now, keeping in mind India's Test tour of England not long after the IPL.

Shami didn't play the last IPL after he was sidelined with an ankle injury and underwent surgery in his right foot in March 2024. In IPL 2023, he won the Purple Cap for his 28 wickets for Gujarat Titans (GT). On Friday night, against GT, he went 3-0-48-0. That took his season's numbers to six wickets from nine matches at an average of 56.17 and an economy rate of 11.23. Combined with much else, Shami's poor run with the ball has been one of the reasons for SRH's dismal season.

"You've had a big surgery like that, I think psychologically for a start [it gets you down]," Danny Morrison said on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out after SRH's latest defeat, which left them on the brink of elimination. "And then you've got to come back and pace yourself, I just wonder: he is no 29-year-old anymore, is he? So there are all of those things that are stacked against you."

If Morrison chose to be kind, Chopra didn't.

"That's a big question there, no, because it's not like he came back from an injury last week or last month. He started playing domestic cricket last year and this is May already," Chopra said. "He's played an ICC event [Champions Trophy] in between. He's played a lot of games. If he's still off the boil, and that has something to do with the injury - and we're all assuming that it is - then there is a serious question mark with regards to what happens next.

"Of course, [SRH] is one story. The other is the tour of England. All of us were harping about the fact that [at the] Border-Gavaskar Trophy, [Jasprit] Bumrah was alone, there was no Shami, and if there was Shami how things would have been different. But will there be Shami [in England] is the question. And what kind of Shami?

"This tournament is such that it doesn't matter who you are. If you're not delivering the goods, you will be taken to the cleaners. And right now, what I see with Shami is, pace down is one bit, second is not enough balls getting bowled in the same area. Mohammed Shami was always that. That is his only strength [and], it is phenomenal."

For the record, Shami returned to competitive cricket in the Ranji Trophy late last year for Bengal, and after being a part of the Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) and the (50-over) Vijay Hazare Trophy squads for Bengal, was back in international cricket with the T20I series at home against England in January-February. The biggest high in all this was picking up 5 for 53 against Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy, where he was India's highest wicket-taker with nine wickets, as his team went on to win the tournament.

In that same Champions Trophy, Shami opened the bowling against Pakistan and bowled five wides in the first over. His lines were off on Friday night too. He drifted into Shubman Gill's pads - and was flicked for six - and gave width to B Sai Sudharsan, and even bowled a 20-run over, the third of the GT innings.

"Going back to that game against Pakistan, where he bowled five wides in the first over - okay that happened also 45 days ago or, maybe more, two months ago [on February 23] - so if he's still not able to get the ball right… because he's not someone who will get flicked for a six; you can drive him for a four, cut him maybe - he doesn't give you that much width by the way - but very seldom will he bowl those that you're flicking for a six and you're happy facing the [next] ball. So yeah, he's not looking good," Chopra said.

Morrison was also concerned and provided a glimpse of a fast bowler's mindset when it comes to returning after an injury with form, fitness, and age not on your side.

"Sometimes, there's a saying, you just put it there rather than you bowl it," he said. "And follow through, and present to the crease well, and all those sorts of things. He may just be subtly guilty - and it could be anyone - that if I am not just getting through the crease, pace has come down - sure, all those things - whether you are wholeheartedly getting through your action."

SRH have four games to go. They aren't mathematically out of the race for the playoffs yet, but are close to it. Four more games for them to do something about their season, and four more games for Shami to show he's still got it. The IPL shouldn't be the base for Test selection, but Shami hasn't played Test cricket since June 2023. So, to repeat, "he's not looking good".