India’s World Cup hero, Mohammed Shami has undergone a heel operation in London. The right-arm pacer took to X to share the news with his fans. Shami reportedly played the 2023 World Cup with an ankle issue and has been out of action since then. The senior pacer finished as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker and dismissed 24 batsmen in only 7 matches. He was benched for 4 games.

“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 wrote on X after the operation.

Shami missed the home T20I series against Australia after the ICC event and was ruled out of the complete South Africa tour. He also missed the Afghanistan series and isn’t part of the ongoing Test series against England.

The latest update has ruled him out of IPL 2024. It comes as a big blow for Gujarat Titans (GT), whose success heavily relies on Shami. The right-arm pacer is a genuine wicket-taker and he played a key role in GT’s success in the past two seasons.

Shami, who joined GT for Rs 6.25 crore in the IPL 2022 mega-auction, scalped 20 wickets in 2022. He dismissed 28 batsmen in only 17 matches in IPL 2023. Led by Hardik Pandya, the Gujarat-based franchise won the IPL 2022 title while they finished as the runners-up next year.

Umesh Yadav, who joined GT in the IPL 2024 mini-auction, will have to fill Shami’s shoes. He is an experienced campaigner in international cricket and IPL.

Cricbuzz has reported that Shami is uncertain for the 2024 T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played in the USA and the Caribbean islands after the IPL. Even though Shami hasn’t played a T20I since the previous WC, he could have forced his way back into the squad after IPL 2024.