Veteran India pacer Mohammed Shami has hit back at chief selector Ajit Agarkar over recent comments regarding his fitness, asserting that he is fully fit and available for national selection. The 35-year-old, who was excluded from India’s ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming Australia tour, expressed frustration over the lack of clear communication from the selectors.
Shami, who is set to feature for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy 2025–26 opener against Uttarakhand starting October 15, pointed out that his presence in the domestic circuit is evidence of his match readiness.
Shami fires back at fitness claims
After India’s limited-overs squads were announced, Agarkar stated that there were no fresh updates on Shami’s fitness and noted that the pacer hadn’t played enough competitive cricket in recent times. However, Shami, who is making a return after Achilles tendon surgery, refuted those remarks, saying he’s been unfairly sidelined despite being match-fit.
“𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆, 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒍. 𝑰𝒇 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓-𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 (𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒊 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚), 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 50-𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒊 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝑬𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔. “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑴𝒚 𝒅𝒖𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑵𝑪𝑨, 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔. 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚.”
The pacer last represented India during the Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand. While Agarkar maintained that the selectors were awaiting confirmation from the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Shami insisted that he had fulfilled every requirement to prove his fitness.
“Keep fighting, keep playing games,” says Shami
The Bengal pacer also emphasised that he remains committed to domestic cricket and will continue performing until hye je earns a recall to the national team.
“𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝑰’𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅, 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒍. 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒊 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅. “𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐𝒐.”
Despite being left out of the limited-overs squads, Shami’s consistent performances in domestic cricket could keep him in contention for a comeback later in the season.
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