Mohammad Shami has been ruled out of the limited-overs tour of Australia after suffering a hamstring injury during training on Friday. Shami will have to wait longer before he can make a comeback to the national side after having missed out on nine months of cricket after the 2015 World Cup.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team has confirmed that Shami will miss out on the whole tour after suffering a Grade II injury to his left hamstring. The injury will keep Shami out of cricketing action for around four to six weeks.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been named as the replacement, for the 25-year-old Shami, by the All-India Senior Selection Committee. Bhuvneshwar will be joining the squad on Sunday.
The last time Shami featured in an India jersey was in the 2015 World Cup, where he bowled through a lot of pain, also finishing as the fourth highest wicket taker. He has had surgery on his problematic knee since then, but his much-vaunted comeback has now been derailed with a hamstring injury.
Bhuvneshwar's most recent game for India was in the fifth match of the ODI series against South Africa. The 25-year-old finished the match at the Wankhede with bowling figures of 1/106 in 10 overs. This was the second-highest number of runs conceded in an ODI.
India will be hoping that Bhuvneshwar can fill in for Shami and improve upon his form from 2015, when he picked up only 16 wickets in 13 matches.
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