Shami took 24 wickets in seven matches at the 2023 World Cup, the tournament’s outright leading wicket-taker. In the two and a half years since, he has played just five more ODIs. Ankle surgery cost him a full year. A knee issue then delayed his return again. When he finally came back at the 2025 Champions Trophy, he performed well enough to keep his place, yet India have not picked him since, even with clear gaps still to fill in their pace attack heading into 2027.
The Lone Wicket-Taker Who Nearly Won It All
Shami walked into the 2023 World Cup as a replacement for the injured Hardik Pandya and finished it as the tournament’s most devastating bowler. His 24 wickets across seven matches included 7 for 57 against New Zealand in the semi-final and 5 for 53 against Sri Lanka, spells that carried India through the group stage and into the final.
Across every ICC tournament he has played, he now holds 55 wickets from 18 innings at an average of 13.52, the best tournament record of any active Indian pace bowler. India lost that final anyway, and an ankle injury that had been building through the tournament finally caught up with him.
Period | Matches | Wickets | Economy and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
2023 ODI World Cup | 7 | 24 | 5.27, tournament top scorer |
Nov 2023 to Jan 2025 | 0 | 0 | Ankle surgery and knee swelling, no cricket |
Champions Trophy 2025 | 5 | 9 | 6.50 economy, India reached the final |
IPL 2025, Sunrisers Hyderabad | 9 | 6 | 11.23 economy, poor return |
IPL 2026, Lucknow Super Giants | 13 | 12 | 7.20 economy, improving |
Two Years Lost to Surgery and Swelling
Shami underwent ankle surgery straight after the 2023 final and did not bowl in a competitive match for more than a year. Just as he neared full fitness, swelling appeared in his left knee, a setback the BCCI put down to the joint simply carrying too much load. Rohit Sharma addressed the situation directly during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, saying the team wanted total certainty about his fitness before risking him again.
The caution cost Shami the entire 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series, the 2024 T20 World Cup, and every match of the 2024 IPL season, a stretch that took him out of the picture for the better part of two calendar years.
Mohammed Shami ODI Career Since 2023 World Cup
Shami finally returned to international cricket at the 2025 Champions Trophy, where he took nine wickets in five matches at an economy near 6.50 as India reached the final. That has remained his last ODI appearance. Even with India missing Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar and Harshit Rana for their 2026 series in England, the selectors did not bring him back into the fifty-over squad.
His franchise form has told a mixed story in the meantime, with six wickets at an economy of 11.23 for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2025 Indian Premier League, his worst return in years, a stretch that raised fair questions about his bowling load across two competitions at once.
Bumrah and Siraj Fared No Better
Shami’s absence looks less unusual once the rest of the 2023 pace attack is measured against the same yardstick. Jasprit Bumrah played the first two matches of the England ODI series before a knee injury ruled him out of the Lord’s finale. Mohammed Siraj was left out of the squad entirely. Not one member of India’s 2023 pace trio started and finished that England series fit and selected.
Shami’s 2026 Indian Premier League form for Lucknow Super Giants, twelve wickets across thirteen matches, showed real recovery without amounting to a case selectors found impossible to ignore. Leaving out the bowler with the strongest tournament pedigree gets harder to defend with each passing series.
One More Cycle to Prove His Case
The 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa gives India roughly twelve months to settle a pace attack that currently has more questions than answers. The strongest argument for bringing Shami back sits in the record books rather than recent form: 55 wickets in 18 ICC tournament innings at 13.52 is a return no current Indian quick can match.
Analysts covering the team through July 2026 have been blunt about it, arguing selectors should not rule out a recall for Mohammed Shami’s ODI career since the 2023 World Cup story to end on his terms rather than in quiet omission. Twelve months is enough time for selectors to find out whether that record still means something on current form, rather than letting it quietly expire without one more genuine chance.
Should India build their 2027 World Cup pace attack around Shami’s tournament pedigree, or has his time passed? Drop your take below.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How many wickets did Mohammed Shami take at the 2023 World Cup?
He took 24 wickets in seven matches, the most by any bowler at the tournament. That haul included 7 for 57 against New Zealand in the semi-final.
Is Mohammed Shami currently injured?
No, Shami is fully fit as of July 2026, having just finished the IPL season with twelve wickets for Lucknow Super Giants. He was still left out of India’s ODI squad for the England series.
How many ODIs has Shami played since the 2023 World Cup?
Just five, all at the 2025 Champions Trophy, where he took nine wickets in five matches as India reached the final. He has not played an ODI since that March 2025 tournament.
Who is leading India’s ODI pace attack in 2026?
Jasprit Bumrah remains India’s first-choice quick whenever fit. Gurnoor Brar has emerged too, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the England 2026 series with seven wickets from two matches.
Why wasn’t Mohammed Shami picked for India’s England ODI series?
He was overlooked despite the squad missing Pandya, Sundar and Rana, with selectors trusting in-form options instead. His most recent international appearance remains the Champions Trophy final in March 2025.