Clearing concern about his fitness, India pacer Mohammed Shami was in full flow today during the practice session of the Indian team on the eve of their World Twenty20 warmup fixture against the West Indies here tomorrow.
Shami bowled with a good rhythm to Indian star batsmen trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh and the latter even had some problems negotiating with the pace and movement.
The 25-year-old pacer was never in trouble and looked as if he continued from where he had left during his bowling spell spanning for more than half an hour.
Indian team director Ravi Shastri also made it clear that Shami will figure in the playing XI during the two warm-up games against West Indies and South Africa in Mumbai on March 10 and March 12 respectively in order to assess his fitness.
"He's in the side and obviously he will play," Shastri told reporters today as the pacer was seen paying rapt attention to India bowling coach Bharat Arun.
India's front-line pacer less than a year back, Shami is struggling to regain his place in the team following his surgery on his troubled knee. He had failed in his brief attempt during the Australia tour earlier this year when he pulled a hamstring.
But keeping in mind his ability, Shami was kept in the World Twenty20 squad with Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the standby and a final call will be taken ahead of their WT20 opener against New Zealand on March 15.
Bhuvneshwar too bowled in tandem with Shami, while Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina were seen batting against the spinners in their afternoon practice session.
If Shami is declared fit, it will be a problem of plenty for the Indian think-tank. But the pacer will still struggle to fit in the XI as his replacement Jasprit Bumrah and veteran Ashish Nehra have proved to be a winning combination for India.
(REOPENS DEL 10)
The selectors have recalled the left-handed Punjab batsman based on his form in the early part of Ranji Trophy in which he scored 672 runs in five matches, including a double hundred against Baroda.
All three players are proven performers at the international level, but would still need some match practice before the series against England kicks off. This game provides it and the trio would be keen to make the most of it.
Also coming back after an injury-forced lay-off is attacking opener Shikhar Dhawan, expected to launch the India A innings alongside Mandeep Singh, who too would be keen to show his worth against the quality opposition that England will provide.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya, who also got injured during the preceding Test series against England and has been declared fit, will be another player to get into match fitness after being chosen for the ODI and T20 series.
Ambati Rayudu and Mohit Sharma are two other players who will be keen to perform impressively to get back into the limited-overs squad for the Champions Trophy in England.
Indian selectors would also get a chance to see wrist spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal, who has got the nod for the T20 series, and Kuldeep Singh, in action in tandem.
England too will be keen to hit their stride after landing here a few days ago. They had a serious net session yesterday and are set to have another one today under lights before plunging into the competitive part of the tour.
Morgan and three other players -- Alex Hales, Jason Roy and David Willey -- are coming from Australia following stints with respective Big Bash T20 franchises while nine others were part of the Test squad that got whipped 4-0 by India.
England, unlike India, who have four Test matches still to play before the Champions Trophy, are already in the white-ball mode and the warm-up game against Dhoni, Yuvraj and company offers them a good chance to start their preparations in earnest for the series against India and later.
Rival teams (from):
India A: Shikhar Dhawan, Mandeep Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Siddharth Kaul.
England: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey and Chris Woakes.
Match begins at 1:30 pm.
