India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel believes Mohammed Shami’s comeback to competitive cricket – marked by a seven-wicket haul in the Ranji Trophy – is a ‘massive win’ for India.
Speaking ahead of the curtain raiser of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth, Morkel acknowledged the impact Shami can have for the team, but went on to add that the Indian team management isn’t rushing the seasoned campaigner’s recovery.
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"We’re definitely keeping a close eye (on him). Shami is a world class bowler. But also, on the same page, we need to understand that he has been out of the game for almost a year. And we also need to respect him and his body,” Morkel said.
Shami, who picked up an ankle injury during his monumental run at last year’s ODI World Cup, played his first professional game in a year’s time last week in India’s premier first-class competition, Ranji Trophy.
The 34-year-old, who has 229 wickets from 64 Tests under his belt, played a pivotal role in Bengal’s 11-run win against Madhya Pradesh.
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“For us, it’s a massive win for us that he's back playing. It was a great win for him picking up wickets in the first game,” Morkel said.
“So how can we give him the best support? How can we give him the best opportunity to find his way back into the team? It's about being patient and giving his body to find its feet again with red-ball, white-ball, whatever format it might be. We are working closely with people back home. Glad to see him back on the field."
Also not part of the Indian camp in Australia is skipper Rohit Sharma, who is back home and announced the birth of his second child last week.
In his absence, Jasprit Bumrah has emerged as the front-runner to assume the captaincy role.
Morkel praised the 30-year-old pace-spearhead, who has led India once before in the format against England in 2022, for being a ‘natural’ leader.
“Jassi is a guy who immediately put his hand up and he wanted that leadership role. He’s been very successful here in the past,” he said.
“He knows what to expect. In the dressing room, he speaks well. And he’s a guy who I know, with the ball in hand, will lead from the front and then the rest of the younger guys will follow.”
Opening up on the challenging nature of the fast-bowler and captaining in a Test match, the former Proteas pacer believes that the presence of other experienced heads in the Indian line-up will assist Bumrah.
“It’s an exciting challenge for him. But again, we’ve got Virat (Kohli), we’ve got KL (Rahul), there’s a lot of experienced guys who will help him. I’m sure when he’s bowling, and there’s a million things going on in his head, that will settle and bring a bit of calmness into the team. But in terms of leadership and in terms of how he looks at the game and approaches the game, he’s a natural leader for me.”
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