Shami undergoes ankle surgery, set to miss IPL

New Delhi: Senior India pacer Mohammed Shami has undergone a surgery on his left achilles tendon, which rules him out of next month's Indian Premier League and possibly the T20 World Cup in June. The 33-year-old, who last played for India in the ODI World Cup final against Australia on November 19, went under the knife in London on Monday.

Shami, who is eager to "get back on my feet soon" stares at a recovery time of a minimum of three months. He will thus miss the IPL slated to be played from March 22 to May 26, as reported by PTI last week. Shami is also a doubtful starter for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.

"Just had a successful heel operation on my achilles tendon! Recovery is going to take some time, but looking forward to getting back on my feet," Shami tweeted, along with several pictures of him in the hospital, on 'X' on Monday.

Shami, who was one of the architects of India's stupendous ODI World Cup campaign with 24 wickets, had played through pain as he had problems with his landing but didn't let it affect his performance. He had flown to London in January to take special ankle injections.

However, the medication didn't work and the fast bowler had to opt for surgery. The absence of Shami is a major blow for Gujarat Titans, who have also traded all-rounder Hardik Pandya to Mumbai Indians in an all-cash deal. Shami was the side's highest wicket-taker during their runner-up finish in the IPL last year.

Shami, who was recently conferred with the Arjuna Award, has 229 Test, 195 ODI and 24 T20 wickets in his decade-long career. The development raises a question mark about the injury rehabilitation management programme planned by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for Shami.

It is also highly unlikely that the pacer would be able to make a comeback before India's Test matches at home against Bangladesh and New Zealand (October November). His target could be the marquee away series against Australia laer this year.