Indian cricket legend Ravichandran Ashwin has issued a bold statement on veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami’s exclusion from India’s ODI squad for the New Zealand series.

The Men in Blue are set to play a three-match ODI series against the Kiwis at home starting from January 11.

BCCI announced the squad for the same on Saturday, and Shami was left out of the squad despite brilliant form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26.

The 35-year-old Indian pacer has grabbed 11 wickets in five matches at an average of 22.27 and an economy of 5.65 in the One Day domestic competition.

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However, Ashwin believes not including Mohammed Shami in the ODI squad was not surprising, and it was on the cards.

“Shami’s exclusion was expected. There is no surprise in that. Virat or Rohit, Shami, the difference between them, the point is, when one-day cricket was not going on, they were still playing Tests or T20s. Shami went out due to injury. People will not agree with this from outside. A way of looking at a batter and bowler becomes different then,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’.

“For a bowler, if you look at the run-up speed, rhythm, is it the same quality as international cricket you once saw, Shami’s case is of optics. Do the selectors believe he can get to the 2027 World Cup? There is a huge difference in the workload of a batter and a fast bowler.”

Ravichandran Ashwin said that Shami would feel unlucky, but also added that selectors seem to have moved on from the veteran pacer.

“If I were Shami, I would still feel he is unlucky. But the selectors have continuously given us a story over the last six months that they do not have a doubt about Shami’s quality or game, but they have moved on. It is very evident. I did not think he was going to make it, and it was not surprising. They might not be looking at him for the future,” he added.

For the uninitiated, Shami also picked up 16 wickets in seven matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025-26. Still, his impressive form could not convince the selectors to include him in the Indian squad for the New Zealand series.

India ODI Squad vs New Zealand:

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (vc), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Arshdeep Singh.

ODI Fixtures:

1st ODI: 11 January, Vadodara
2nd ODI: 14 January, Rajkot
3rd ODI: 18 January, Indore

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