Mohammed Shami ‘took injections regularly’ during World Cup to manage pain: Report

Mohammed Shami was the standout bowler of the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup finishing as the tournament’s leading wicket-keeper. Despite missing the initial 4 matches, the right-arm pacer left an indelible mark with his remarkable show.

Now a report claims that Shami was dealing with a ‘chronic heel issue’ throughout the World Cup tournament and took injections to manage the pain.

“Shami has a chronic left heel issue. A lot of people don’t know that he took injections regularly during World Cup and played the entire tournament through pain,” news agency PTI quoted an unnamed former Bengal teammate of Shami as saying.

“But you must understand that as you grow older, recovery from each niggle or big injury takes that more time,” he added.

Mohammed Shami took injections regularly during the World Cup and played the entire tournament in pain because of chronic left heel issues. (PTI).

Shami WC 2023 :

-Most Wickets (24)
-Best Bowling Figures (7/57)
-Best Bowling Average (10.70) (Min 5 Wickets)#Shami pic.twitter.com/F217ojBsuc

— Shantanu (@ShantanuSayss) December 30, 2023

Mohammad Shami sat out from India’s first four matches of the ODI showpiece as India went ahead with fast-bowling allrounder Shardul Thakur to add depth to their batting.

After Hardik Pandya was ruled out of the game due to injury against Bangladesh in Pune, Shami was added to the squad. Shami grabbed the opportunity with both hands to finish with 24 wickets from just 7 appearances.

Shami hasn’t played any competitive cricket since India’s final defeat to Australia on November 19 and has also been ruled out from the ongoing South Africa tour due to an ankle issue.

India felt the absence of the experienced Shami in their recent Test defeat against South Africa. Avesh Khan was selected as the Shami’s replacement for the second Test that starts from January 3 in Cape Town.