With more than 75 players touring South Africa for India’s multi-format tour of the rainbow, the visitors are set to receive reinforcements in the form of Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah. After missing the entire white-ball leg of the South Africa tour, Kohli will join the Indian camp in the lead-up to the Test series against the Proteas. However, India will likely miss the services of veteran pacer Mohammed Shami in the two-match Test series against South Africa.

After a fruitful campaign at the One Day International (ODI) World Cup in India, Shami was rested for the T20I series against Australia. The veteran pacer emerged as the standout performer for Rohit Sharma at the 2023 World Cup. Hosts India finished runners-up in the 2023 World Cup in which pacer Shami bagged the most number of wickets (24). India’s highest wicket-taker in the history of the ODI World Cup, Shami reportedly had to brave ankle discomfort during the ICC tournament.

According to a report filed by Cricbuzz, it has been learned that Shami is in serious doubt about playing in the Test series between India and South Africa. The report suggested that Shami could miss the entire series against the hosts. India’s last batch of players featuring skipper Rohit Sharma will leave for Johannesburg on Friday (December 15) and Shami will not be the among stars joining the squad for the series.

Besides skipper Rohit, pacer Bumrah, all-rounder Ashwin, Navdeep Saini and Harshit Rana will be travelling to South Africa on Friday via Dubai. Interestingly, the selectors have not named a replacement for Shami. Thus, India can replace Shami with a like-for-like player from its T20I and ODI squads. “Mr. Mohd. Shami is currently undergoing medical treatment, and his availability is subject to fitness,” the BCCI said while announcing the squad for the South Africa series. India will meet South Africa for the Boxing Day Test at Centurion on December 26. India can finalise its squad with the three-day game which will get underway on December 20.