"If Mohammad Shami is still not ready for Test cricket, when will he be?" - Aakash Chopra on seamer's non-selection for ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned when Mohammad Shami would be ready for Test cricket if he wasn't fit enough to be picked for the upcoming series against England. He noted that the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) seamer has also not been part of the franchise's playing combination in their last few games of IPL 2025.

The selectors recently picked an 18-member Indian squad for the five-match Test series against England starting in Leeds on June 20. Shami was one of the prominent names ignored for the first series of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener wondered about Shami's future after the veteran seamer wasn't picked for the Test series against England.

"Mohammad Shami is not there. That's another big news. He had an MRI done, and his workload hasn't been built as required. The selectors and team are not convinced that he is ready for Test cricket," Chopra said (6:00).

"If Mohammad Shami is still not ready for Test cricket, when will he be? Cricket is moving slightly ahead of him. The SunRisers Hyderabad are not playing him and he is not part of the Indian Test team. So, he is falling behind a little. However, we had anticipated that this would happen," he added.

Mohammad Shami has picked up 229 wickets at an average of 27.71 in 64 Tests. However, he hasn't played a Test since June 2023 and seemed to lack rhythm while playing for SRH in IPL 2025.

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"Arshdeep Singh is getting a chance for the first time" - Aakash Chopra on the new inclusion in India's seam attack for ENG vs IND 2025 Tests

Arshdeep Singh has been a star performer for India in T20Is. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on the seamers picked, Aakash Chopra noted that Arshdeep Singh has earned his maiden Test call-up.

"Arshdeep Singh is getting a chance for the first time. Of course, he has played first-class cricket and played county cricket as well. He has been included as they would need a left-armer in Test cricket. If he has been included, Harshit Rana has gone out," he said in the same video.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that Harshit Rana hasn't been picked even though he was played ahead of Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna in the first two games of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.

"If you compare it with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Harshit Rana was part of that team. In fact, he even played before Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna, but he is now not part of this team. So that's a big change, Arshdeep is in and Harshit Rana is out," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra noted that Shardul Thakur has been picked as a seam-bowling all-rounder, highlighting that he would give batting depth. He added that Nitish Kumar Reddy, who too is part of the squad, will be seen more as a batting all-rounder now as his bowling cannot he relied upon that much.