A barrage of questions has been raised by Indian selectors regarding the fitness, form, and experience of players like Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah for the upcoming 2027 ODI World Cup.
Shami’s absence from the team is a burning question. In the 2023 ODI World Cup, Shami was India’s leading wicket-taker with 24 wickets and an average of 10.70.
The veteran fast bowler played his last match for the Men in Blue in March 2025; he was not selected for India’s Test and ODI squads for the games against Afghanistan.
According to chief selector Ajit Agarkar, Shami’s body structure is suited only for the T20 format. He completed a domestic season, but his physical fitness was not good for Test and ODI matches.
In the 2025-26 domestic season, Shami took 67 wickets, and since the 2025 Champions Trophy final, which India won, he has not played.
Apart from this, in November 2024, Shami underwent monitored bowling sessions at the National Cricket Academy, where he bowled 43.2 overs in two innings and took seven wickets.
Siraj and the Sri Lanka Tests
The Indian cricket team won a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka with a 1-0 margin in August 2026. The second Test was drawn when it concluded on August 27 in Colombo.
In that game, Mohammed Siraj had been bowling slower because of a short run-up after he had fallen heavily off a catch.
Captain Shubman Gill addressed the concerns after the match: “Firstly, Siraj is not injured,” adding that he had last played international cricket in June, against Afghanistan, and that a nearly two-month gap from competitive cricket affected his rhythm.
“It takes time for someone to come back to the rhythm,” said Gill. Siraj’s reduced pace was evident in both Tests but did not reflect an injury, he added.
Bumrah and workload management
India rested Jasprit Bumrah, alongside Ravindra Jadeja, for a single Test against Afghanistan in June 2026. This was because of workload management considerations, with the game carrying no World Test Championship points.
Shubman Gill led the side with KL Rahul as vice-captain, replacing Rishabh Pant.
Gill spoke about the overall fitness concerns for the team leading up to the World Cup in July 2026, after changes were made to an ODI series due to injuries sustained by Bumrah.
“When you look at the World Cup as your target where you have to play back-to-back 11 games and here we have players not able to finish even a 2-3 game series… So as a group, we need to work on our fitness and other stuff,” said Gill.
According to reports, the BCCI wishes for Bumrah to play one first-class game before the selection of the Indian Test team for New Zealand. TPB
