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Top India seamer Mohammed Shami opened up on his return to the national squad following a severe ankle injury, saying that such incidents help athletes "grow stronger".
The Men in Blue will take on England in the first match of the T20I series in Kolkata's iconic Eden Gardens on Wednesday. With Jasprit Bumrah out of the squad for the five-match T20I series against the Three Lions, Shami is expected to lead the Men in Blue attack. Last year, Shami returned to domestic cricket with Bengal after undergoing an ankle surgery that kept him sidelined for nearly a year. Shami had also been a part of Bengal's squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Shami had made an impressive comeback to competitive cricket, having last featured in the ODI World Cup 2023 final. Following ankle surgery and overcoming a series of setbacks, he returned to action for Bengal in a Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in November. Earlier on January 11, Shami was added to the India squad for the T20I series against England. Speaking in a video shared on the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) social media handle and said that he had waited for an entire year and worked very hard to get back to the Team India squad. He added that one will get results if they work hard. "I waited for an entire year and I worked very hard, there was a sense of fear even while running. It is difficult for any player to get injured after being in full flow, go to the NCA for rehabilitation and then make a comeback. When you go through injuries, I feel you grow stronger as an athlete. Because you have to repeat a lot of things while being mentally strong... whatever is done, it is done. I have crossed that phase. If you work hard, you will get the result...," Shami told BCCI in a video. https://x.com/BCCI/status/1881913953003127195 Shami has also been added to the Team India squad for the forthcoming Champions Trophy 2025, which will kick off from February 19. The five-match T20I series will kick off on January 22 in Kolkata. The second and third matches will be held on January 25 and 28 in Chennai and Rajkot, respectively. The fourth game of the series will be played on January 31 in Pune. Mumbai will host the final match of the T20I series on February 2. India's squad for the T20I series against England: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (VC), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (WK). (ANI)
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