Shami has been absent from the international circuit for 11 months due to knee injury. He was spotted bowling with heavily strapped left knee. Shubman Gill missed the opening test of the series due to stiff neck. Shami's last appearance was at the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on November 19. India went onto lose the final and Shami later revealed that he played the tournament with an injured ankle. Later, Shami underwent surgery and has been recovering at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bengaluru since then. Will Shami regain fitness in time for Border Gavaskar Trophy? Shami was slated to return in the home Test series against New Zealand however his lack of fitness proved to be the hurdle in his selection. In the pre-series press conference, skipper Rohit Sharma had provided an update on Shami's recovery stating that he had swelling in his knees. The skipper further casted doubt on pacer's participation in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. He said, "To be honest, right now, it's pretty difficult for us to make a call on him, whether he'll be fit for this series or Australia series. He recently had swelling on his knee, which was quite unusual," He added, "He was in the process of getting fit, getting close to 100 per cent, he had swelling in his knee, that put him back a little bit in his recovery. So, he had to start again. Right now, he's at NCA, he's working with the physios and the doctors at NCA,"