Reiterating caution over Mohammed Shami’s fitness, captain Rohit
Sharma on Sunday said that the “door is very much open” for the star
quick to join the squad for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar
Trophy.

Shami, who was sidelined with an Achilles injury since the 50-over
World Cup final in November 2023, returned to domestic cricket last
month, where he picked up match figures of 7-156 in his first game
back in the Ranji Trophy and is a part of the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali
T20 Trophy as well.

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Captain Rohit Sharma said that the team did not want to rush a
half-cooked Shami back into Test cricket, as he revealed that the
right-arm pacer developed some swelling in his knee while playing the
SMAT.

Addressing the post-match press conference at Adelaide, Sharma said,
“Definitely that door is very much open but we’re just monitoring him
because while playing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he again got some
swelling in his knee, which obviously hampers his preparation to come
and play a Test match.”

“We want to be very, very careful, we don’t want to bring him here in
a situation where we play him and then he pulls up or something
happens. We want to be more than a hundred percent sure with him
because it’s been such a long time that he’s not played. We don’t want
to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team.

“So there are some professionals who are monitoring, they are there
with him and we will take the call based on you know what they say. We
just have to be very, very careful, but, like I said, that door is
very much open for him to come and play,” he added.

While there has been no official confirmation about Shami getting the
go-ahead to fly to Australia, Rohit’s revelation of a swelling in his
knee, means it could further delay his comeback into the Test fold.