India fast bowler Mohammed Shami revealed his incredible leg strength, saying that he could do 750 Kgs on the leg press machine in the gym.
Mohammed Shami has set inspirational benchmarks of fitness in the past 7-8 years for youngsters and other fast bowlers in the world.
In the initial phase of his career, Shami used to regularly break down with injury. However, he has worked extremely hard on his fitness: since 2015, Shami has not missed a single ICC tournament for which he was picked. He even played throughout the World Cup 2023 with an ankle injury, which seems to have exacerbated during the World Cup and he is now likely to miss the 2 Tests in South Africa.
Speaking with Aaj Tak, Mohammed Shami revealed that no other player in the team can lift as heavy weights as he does, not even Virat Kohli! Shami says he doesn’t post on social media, but he works very hard in the gym.
Shami said, “No other cricketer lifts heavier weights than me in the gym, I don’t like to post on social media so people don’t know. I can do a 750KG leg press.”
Mohammed Shami likely to miss Test series in South Africa
Cricbuzz has reported that “Mohammed Shami is in serious doubt for the Test series against South Africa.”
The Test series will kick-start on December 26. The India Test squad will leave for South Africa on December 15, but Shami will not board that plane. In fact, he may not travel to South Africa at all.
At the time of announcing the squad, the BCCI had put an asterisk on Shami’s name, stating that his participation in the Test series is subject to fitness clearance.
The BCCI stated: “Mr. Mohd. Shami is currently undergoing medical treatment, and his availability is subject to fitness.”
At the moment, the BCCI has not announced a replacement, but Navdeep Saini is a frontrunner to replace Shami in the Test squad.
India Test squad for South Africa Test series:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad
