By Admin 
The issue of Mohammed Shami not being selected in Team India for the Test series against South Africa is gaining momentum. Despite taking 15 wickets in his first three Ranji Trophy 2025/26 matches, Shami was ignored by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee for the Indian squad against South Africa. Now Shami’s personal coach Mohammad Badruddin has expressed his disappointment on this matter. He alleged that BCCI has made up its mind to ignore Shami in the selection. Badruddin termed BCCI’s argument regarding Shami’s fitness as an excuse.
In an interview to India Today, Badruddin said, “They are ignoring him (Shami), that’s clear. I don’t understand any other reason other than this.” Badruddin further said, “He is not unfit. When a player is playing a Test match and takes 15 wickets in two matches, he does not look unfit at all. The selectors are just ignoring him. Only he can tell why they are doing this.”
Badruddin said that the decision of the Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI selection committee to leave Shami out of the Indian team for the Test series against South Africa was predetermined. Shami, 35, was not initially selected in the India A team for the unofficial Test or ODI matches against South Africa A and was later dropped from the senior team as well.
He said, “I think they have made up their mind that they will not pick him now and I think that is completely wrong. When you pick the Test team, it should be on the basis of Ranji Trophy performance. If you are making Test selections on the basis of T20, then it is not right. But here it seems that the decisions are already decided.”
Last time, the reason for Mohammed Shami’s exclusion was fitness. Shami is currently playing for Bengal team in Ranji Trophy, where he took 7 wickets against Uttarakhand and 8 wickets against Gujarat. After taking 15 wickets in 2 matches, it seemed that Shami could be included in the Test series against South Africa, but it did not happen.