Shami’s fitness was being closely watched in the lead up to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that starts on November 22 in Perth, although he was not named in the squad for the five Test series. Just before that squad was named, Shami had said that he was hoping to take the flight to Australia after playing one or two Ranji Trophy games for Bengal.

Shami had been sidelined with an ankle injury all this while and he underwent surgery on his right foot in March earlier this year. He has spent a better part of the last six months at Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy, to rehabilitate from surgery for an achilles tendon injury he played the ODI World Cup with.

If Shami proves his fitness in the upcoming four-day game, it’s possible that he could be added to India’s Test squad that currently features vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana as the fast bowlers.

More to follow…