Pujara Asks BCCI To Give Selection Clarity To Jilted Mohammed Shami

Former Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara has called on the national selectors and team management to hold an honest conversation with fast bowler Mohammed Shami about his future in the Test side, amid an extended absence due to an injury and the uncertainty surrounding his selection that has followed since then.

Ahead of the first Test of the series against South Africa, Pujara emphasised that while India have a number of promising pacers, experienced campaigners like Shami deserve transparency. He argued that clear dialogue is essential not only for the individual bowler’s clarity but also to ensure the team’s broader planning remains credible.

“Someone like Mohammed Shami should be having – I mean, the selectors and the team management should have a very honest conversation with him. What’s the plan going forward? Whether they want to pick him or whether they are looking at the young players,” Pujara said, as quoted by India Today. 

“If he is being informed that they are not looking at him, then it is always Shami’s personal call whether he wants to carry on playing first-class cricket, whether he still wants to – I mean, he is part of the IPL as well. So, he would want to carry on playing cricket. The communication from the team management has to be very, very clear, and it should be very honest conversation, and Shami should be part of it,” he added. 

Shami has not featured in a Test since the World Test Championship final in 2023 and has been left out of the squad for India's last three Test series. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Ajit Agarkar recently cited fitness and lack of game time as major factors for his non-selection, despite Shami’s domestic form, as he has picked 15 wickets in the current Ranji Trophy season.