Mohammed Shami's white-ball future back in focus

NEW DELHI: With the

T20 World Cup

just five months away, the Indian team management and selectors are seeking clarity about

Mohammed Shami

's white-ball future. TOI understands the Indian cricket board (

BCCI

) is looking to have a discussion with the star pacer about his future plans.
The team picked for the T20I home series against Afghanistan doesn't have any of the three premier fast bowlers —

Jasprit Bumrah

, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami.

While Bumrah and Siraj have been rested, Shami is still nursing an ankle injury. Shami is now over 33 years of age and needs to be handled carefully in this phase of his career.

"There will be a discussion with Shami to know what he wants to do going ahead. He has taken a lot of workload in the last few years. This discussion was supposed to happen in South Africa. Since he didn't travel with the team, the management and selectors will talk to him very soon," a BCCI source said. "It has to be clear how much cricket he wants to play beyond the IPL and Test matches."

It is learnt that the team management is looking to zero in on its bowling attack for the upcoming T20 World Cup soon. There have been doubts over Shami playing all formats of the game after the 2023 ODI World Cup. Interestingly, he was not considered in the T20I scheme of things in the past few years until he was drafted into the T20 World Cup squad in 2022 at the last minute.

Hardik Pandya given say in planning
Hardik Pandya

has been kept in the loop when it comes to planning for the T20I team. He is even expected to be consulted when the discussion around Shami happens. "This discussion on Shami will involve coach Dravid, chief selector Agarkar,

Rohit Sharma

and Hardik himself. Hardik is still a big part of the leadership group. His point of view matters," the source said.
Recently, the selectors decided to bring back Rohit Sharma and

Virat Kohli

in the T20I squad after a gap of 14 months. It was believed the selectors had moved on from these veterans but it seems the value of experience in the T20 format still matters.
The T20I seam attack currently looks to be settled with Bumrah, Siraj, Arshdeep and Hardik in the mix. With Mukesh Kumar showing impressive temperament, India's backup option looks to be ready. In that case, it will be up to Shami to decide what he wants.