We are more than halfway through the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test series with India winning the first, Australia winning the second, and the third ending in a rain-marred draw. Jasprit Bumrah has by far been the most threatening bowler for the hosts to contend with. While he continues to give nightmares to the Australian batters, the rest of the Indian bowling contingent has blown hot and cold in this entire tour so far.

The likes of Rana, Reddy, and Siraj have produced mixed results which do raise a need for another specialist seamer to step in apart from Bumrah. In all fairness, the national side is desperately missing the services of the ace pacer Mohammed Shami who was at the top of his mark in last year's ODI World Cup.

Following his glorious World Cup campaign, Shami had to endure an extended injury layoff which forced him out of major cricketing events including the T20 World Cup. However, the speedster has regained his fitness and made a glorious return to domestic cricket with a four-wicket haul for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy.

See also: MCA reveals reason behind Prithvi Shaw's exclusion from Mumbai's Vijay Hazare Trophy Squad

Will Shami make an appearance in the Boxing Day Test?

Of late, there have been growing reports to suggest that Shami could well play a role in the upcoming Boxing Day Test starting on December 26 in Melbourne. However, the claim has not been officially confirmed by any major source till now. Speaking at the press conference, the Indian Test skipper Rohit Sharma provided an update on Shami's availability and his potential participation ahead of the third Test. 

“I think it’s high time somebody from NCA talked about him. That’s our national cricket academy where he is rehabilitating. Those guys are the ones who need to come up and give us some kind of update." 

Shami is currently undergoing rehab at the NCA. Rohit is looking forward to receiving instructions from NCA on how they can move forward with his case.

Rohit does not want to risk it with Shami

Shami has been competing in several domestic games back in India and has had resounding success. But the Indian skipper is reluctant to make him go the extra mile if he is not 100% fit. Shami has reportedly faced issues with his knee and Rohit does not want to take any chances unless he gets detailed clarity about Shami's fitness. 

“But look, I understand he’s playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. The last thing you want is the player coming here and then pulling out in the middle of the game. You know what happens when that kind of thing happens."

Shami's fitness is subject to NCA's clearance and it all depends on the evolving needs of India's pace department in the ongoing BGT series which is currently level at 1-1.