Time after Injury Was Toughest, Irritating: Shami

Indian fast bowler Mohammad Shami,himself, revealed the torture he suffered due to the injury and said that he was completely in bed for the first two months of his injury.

This knee injury ruled him out of cricket for nearly nine months following India’s exit in the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Shami said after a good come back in team India squad for the upcoming Australian tour of Indian team, “The doctor had told me not to get out of bed for two months. It was the most difficult phase for me. I was not allowed to keep my feet on the ground. I was only allowed to get up from my bed and go to the bathroom.

“And the second thing is I couldn’t play. When I left the crutches and met the team before the tour of Bangladesh, I felt like I was alive again. I had not seen the dining room even for those two months.

I started feeling good again when I started light running and my cricket. I felt like I was back to my world. It is very difficult to be mentally strong during this period,” he said.

Having recovered from his injury, Shami played for Bengal in a few domestic matches, claiming three wickets in the two Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day matches.

He also got back his rhythm in Mushtaq Ali Trophy T-20 matches, claiming five wickets in two games.

“It was very important for me to get back my rhythm and get some matches under my belt. I wanted to start from where I had left before my injury. I was feeling comfortable as I was able to bowl with the same pace and hit the same line and length,” he said.

MS Dhoni also welcomed come back of fast bowler Mohammad Shami after his knee injury, but said that we have to keep a close look at the burden faced by him.

“Shami has been a very good bowler for us, especially if you see the period before he got injured. He has been equally effective for us with the new ball, in the middle overs and in the death. He has been very consistent in his performance.”

He has worked really hard during his rehab. It will be interesting to see how he shapes up. I will try to manage him well because the World Cup is just round the corner,” Dhoni said on Tuesday in Mumbai.

Shami elaborated his feelings about his life after injury, “Injuries are very irritating for me and any other cricketer. It’s very difficult to mentally come out of an injury. I just hope it never happens to me again in my life.”

Despite playing through pain due to a knee injury, the Bengal medium-pacer emerged India’s best bowler in the tournament, claiming 17 wickets in seven matches.

Following the a long spell on the sidelines, the 25-year-old pacer is back in the Indian squad for the forthcoming One-Day International and T-20 series in Australia, and will be hoping to repeat his performances Down Under. 

But once again Shami is out of the Indian team due to injury at Australian tour and will not be able to play in the upcoming ODI series. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar will replace him as fas bowler in Indian squad.

Dhoni's Team India heads to Australia with one eye on World T20

For an International One Day Series of five matches and a T-20 series of three matches, Team India departure to Australia on Tuesday. Team India will play a one day series and a T-20 series at this Australian Tour.

Before departure, MS Dhoni attended a press conference. Looking dapper in black blazer,Mahendra Singh Dhoni strutted around the precincts of a suburban hotel in the city on Tuesday evening, greeting friends and well-wishers from the cricket fraternity with such alacrity it was clear he hadn't met most of them in a very long time.

MS Dhoni attending a press conference before departure.

Indian captain MS Dhoni praised a lot about the bowling strategies of dangerous spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and said, “Ashwin is a very different type of bowler. 

Whenever he bowls, he does with a lot of caution and thought process about his bowling is continuous in his mind. He is very positive at the field while bowling. I always told him to just focus on his bowling, not on anything else.

Ashwin is a very sensible player. He got few downs in his performance and he was criticized also for experimenting a lot of things, but I am happy that he has got a great comeback.

“He has played a very valuable and important role I Indian bowling squad for a long time. I always has a full confidence over him. I am much dependent upon him. I have used him at all the moments whether it is the start of the game or last 10 overs of the match. Whenever fast bowlers are not doing well, Ashwin make it easy task for the team”, he added.

Ashwin ended his year with the title of the top test match bowler in International Cricket calendar 2015 and became the first bowler to achieve this title for the first time. In 2015, he played 9 test matches and got 62 wickets, in which he got seven times five wickets or more than that in test cricket. The best performance for him in last year was taking 7 wickets for 66 runs.

Dhoni is heading Down Under with a clear motive. The idea is to get his bowling unit together and assess who will be ripe for the picking when the time comes to dominate at home. "We always knew that we would be playing three T20s there. Conditions will be different when we play the World T20 at home but it's good to have this opportunity (in Australia).

"We have ample opportunity to try different players in different slots and try different bowling combinations. We will be in a better position by the start of the World T20 regarding what our playing XI should look like and what will be the best strategy," Dhoni said on the eve of the team's departure.

Dhoni also praised all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and young spin bowler Axer Patel for having a great performance in domestic cricket.

Dhoni said that there will be a tough competition for a place of spinner between Jadeja, Ashwin and Patel outside India.

“Ashwin is our best spinner and it’s good to have Jadeja back in the team. Two spin all-rounder will fight for one place in the squad”, he added.

He also welcomed come back of fast bowler Mohammad Shami after his knee injury, but said that we have to keep a close look at the burden faced by him.

“Shami has been a very good bowler for us, especially if you see the period before he got injured. He has been equally effective for us with the new ball, in the middle overs and in the death. He has been very consistent in his performance.”

He has worked really hard during his rehab. It will be interesting to see how he shapes up. I will try to manage him well because the World Cup is just round the corner,” Dhoni said on Tuesday in Mumbai.

For the Australian Tour, few new faces has been included in the team named as Manish Pandey, Rishi Dhawan Gurkreet Singh Man and Barindar Sharan. These players have got place in One day squad, while in T-20 squad, Hardik Pandya has got entry for the first time.

One Day International Captain of Indian cricket team MS Dhoni said that he will think about his retirement at the “right time”.

When asked about his retirement plan from limited over game, he did not give a clear answer of this question, but about his life after his retirement from the test cricket, he said “Now I don’t play test cricket, but with the help of this break I get few more time to prepare myself for one day cricket. I always believe in present. I have no answer about my future. This Australian Tour is the most important thing for me. I have not any thought for myself after the World Cup to be held in March April in India.

Great VVS Laxman stated about MS Dhoni, "I definitely see Dhoni playing till 2019 World Cup as he is super-fit," said Laxman, before proceeding to elaborate on his point.

"The reason is that I have never seen him miss a match due to an injury. May be, he has had those odd finger injuries here and there," continued Laxman, adding, "I have no doubt he will be available till 2019 World Cup.

"I am happy that he has played seven matches in Vijay Hazare Trophy as he must have needed some preparation under his belt."

Dhoni last played a One-dayer against South Africa on Oct 25 last year, after which the next two months saw him participate in a domestic tournament - other than the IPL - for the first time in eight years and enjoy a rare break from the frenzied international cricket circuit.