Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Auqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj were tried out in the series, but none of them was able to step up with the ball, and the bowling emerged as a real headache ahead of the World Cup next year in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. With the recent lacklustre performance, there has been clamour to bring Mohammed Shami back into the mix for next year’s World Cup.

Shami last played for India in the 2025 Champions Trophy and has since been ignored despite strong performances in domestic cricket for Bengal. However, former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik doesn’t think it would be the right call to go back to the experienced campaigner, as the management has moved past him.

“No. I feel there are other pacers, India have moved beyond him so there’s point in going back. I wouldn’t be looking at him even though he’s bowled really well,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz’s latest video titled ‘Hot Takes’.

However, Shami addressed the media days later, saying that if he hadn’t been fit, he wouldn’t have been playing the Ranji Trophy for Bengal. He also said that it wasn’t his job to hand over the fitness certificate to the selection committee.

Ever since then, no one has come out publicly to explain why Shami was repeatedly ignored despite delivering strong performances in several domestic tournaments. Shami recently played his 100th first-class match, representing the East Zone in the Duleep Trophy final against the South Zone.

India’s next big assignment is the multi-format series against New Zealand, where the team will play five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests. With Agarkar no longer the chief selector, it would be interesting to see if the experienced speedster is brought back into the squad for the ODIs and Tests.