Following Mohammed Shami‘s exclusion from the 18-member team for the forthcoming series against England, Ajit Agarkar, head of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s selection committee, offered his thoughts on the player. Five pure pacers were chosen by India, however Shami was left off the roster.
Ajit Agarkar declared that a key factor in his absence was a recent setback during the current Indian Premier League season.
“He had some MRIs done after experiencing a minor setback during the past week. unable to participate in five Test matches. Don’t believe he should be working so much. He will be ruled out, the medical professionals said. At a news conference in Mumbai, Ajit Agarkar stated, “We were hoping he would play some part, but if he isn’t fit, we’d rather pick guys who are fit and available than wait.”
Along with middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan and right-arm bowler Harshit Rana, Shami was one of three players left off the team. Shami last played a Test match for India in June 2023. Regarding Shami, he participated in nine IPL 2025 games for Sunrisers Hyderabad before being sidelined because of a minor ailment.
He was a key member of the Men in Blue’s Champions Trophy winning effort in February and March before the IPL. On his return to the Ranji Trophy, Shami played one game for Bengal in the red-ball format and claimed seven wickets, including an outstanding four-wicket haul.
On June 20, the five-game series versus England will begin. The pace-bowling unit will be led by Jasprit Bumrah, who will be joined by Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Akash Deep. The two pace bowling all-rounders are Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
India’s England Test team
KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Kadeja, Dhurv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav; Shubman Gill, captain; Rishabh Pant, vice-captain; and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
India
