India vs Australia: Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir have no agenda against Mohammed Shami

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Rohit Sharma hates Mohammed Shami, Gautam Gambhir prefers Harshit Rana as they have worked together before at Kolkata Knight Riders. If rumours and hearsay turn into news stories, without attribution, this is a dangerous trend in cricket journalism.

To make the captain and coach of Team India as leaders with an agenda is nothing new, really. This is not the first time nor will it be the last time.

Facts first, Shami had got injured during the ICC World Cup (ODI) in 2023. His long absence from cricket, surgery and then rehab, it was a long process. Yes, Shami was back in training in Bengaluru at the same time India played and lost a test there against the Kiwis. If there was interaction between Rohit and Shami, it's being turned into a juicy story today. Truth or fiction, nobody knows.

Mohammed Shami finally returned for Bengal and played the Ranji Trophy and recently featured in a SMAT match, again in Bengaluru. He has become a match-winner is what folks say. At the same time, India lost in Adelaide, and the chants reached a crescendo: "Bring on Shami."

Is Shami a messiah who can turn defeat into victories? The swing in favour of Shami has peaked. It's more than how much the bowler himself gets the ball to 'talk' though there is no doubting his pedigree.

The way Travis Head smashed the Indian attack in Adelaide, the dropping pace and the swing of Shami with a Pink Ball would also not have been spared. Honestly, Indians don't know how to use a Pink Ball.

They should not use it in the future and should say no to Pink Ball Tests. Coming back to Shami, are all the fast bowlers who have been sent to Australia useless, barring Jasprit Bumrah. Did not Rana bowl well in the first Test, was not Mohammed Siraj full of fire and ready to take on Head, literally?

Siraj and Head have been censured, but it also exposes the lies of the Aussie who had said he had praised the bowler! It shows, how fact and fiction are different. For the mindless chants of 'bring on Shami,' it is nothing but a PR campaign in full blast. Who does it and how so many people are now being critical of the other Indian bowlers is just a shame.

At least, they are fit and have not broken down. All those who have been tracking the training sessions have pointed out effort being out in by all team blokes even till Tuesday in Adelaide. Be it Rohit or Virat Kohli, they are trying their best to get back into form.

How does Harshit Rana become useless and Akash Deep a better bowler is pure speculation. Captain and coach, Rohit and Gambhir plus Morne Morkel, they will decide. None of them has said Shami is needed like a life-saving drug.

If the NCA clears Shami and he is fully fit, fly him out. But that does not mean he walks into the side. None from the NCA has said a 100 per cent Shami is fit. Bowling in matches at home is good but to project him as a sole match-winner is bizarre. Can he shoulder the workload in Australia? After all, the remaining three Tests will be high intensity.

All this chatter on Shami being ignored and Rana being a favourite of Gambhir needs to end. There were allegations against former captains Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni as well, they backed some players and ignored a few. All this debate on Shami is mindless, nobody knows how fit he is.

It has to be 100 per cent, unless someone wants him to break down again. Have people forgotten that after Jasprit Bumrah injured his back in Birmingham in 2022, he was rushed back and again injured? Shami is not growing younger and to play out rivalries between him and the skipper is wrong. BCCI chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, is in Australia as well and will be in touch with everyone on the Shami subject. Don't add fuel to fire.