Uttar Pradesh-born Indian pacer Mohammed Shami will be rested ahead of Bengal's opening Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture against Delhi starting tomorrow in Hyderabad. Shami was originally drafted in the 20-member squad for Bengal for this List-A tournament but will have to wait out of the first game. 

Despite making a resounding return to domestic cricket, Shami is far from regaining his full fitness. Shami's swelling around the ankle region appears to be the main cause of concern for the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. With one eye on a potential return to the India Test squad for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rohit does not want to take any chances with Shami and wants him to be "200%" fit before he can be considered. 

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Shami under the close supervision of NCA

Shami has been under the close eye of the Centre of Excellence under NCA ever since he underwent ankle surgery in London this February. Following his successful ankle surgery, Shami made a cautious return to the domestic arena and scripted some notable performances for his domestic side. But after a few performances, complaints of his knee problems soon came to light thus giving us an indication that the pacer is not fully ready to hit the ground running just yet.  

Speaking at a press conference after the Gabba Test, Rohit threw light on Shami's ongoing struggles with his ankle and indicated that the management will only take a call on his selection once he proves his full fitness. Moreover, he also expects the medical experts from the NCA to weigh in on this matter and provide him with regular updates on Shami's overall fitness.  

"I understand he's playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. So, there is no way we want to take that chance unless we are like, not 100%, 200% sure, we're not going to take any risk. But yeah, like I said in the last press conference, the door is open if those guys at the NCA feel that he is okay to go and recover and play, we'll be happy to have him."

The road ahead for Mohammed Shami

Upon his return, Shami has been performing actively in the domestic circuit making a handful number of appearances for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He was on track to making a comeback in the Bangladesh home test series but aggravated a knee problem while at rehab, which forced the BCCI to err on the side of caution. 

Shami is closely under observation of Nitin Patel, the head of sports science at the Centre of Excellence. Under Patel's leadership, the team has been traveling nationwide to assess his development and keep the management informed of his status.

Should Shami fail to achieve full fitness for the penultimate BGT Test in Melbourne or the final BGT Test commencing on January 3—both of which appear increasingly improbable—his next objective will be to prepare for India's Champions Trophy campaign scheduled for early next year.