The rumour mill can finally rest. Mohammed Shami has been officially named in Bengal’s Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) squad. This might just end weeks of speculation about his return to the Indian team for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).
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With Shami’s inclusion in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, one could expect that the national team might not be just yet convinced over his fitness. But don’t mistake this for a setback. It’s a strategic move, carefully crafted by the BCCI medical team and team management to ensure he returns to his absolute best. As you already know, Shami last played a competitive game during the ODI World Cup 2023 Final in Ahmedabad before returning on the field after 360 days.
Shami played a single Ranji Trophy game before having a decent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) recently, taking 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.86 across nine innings in the tournament. Having said that, it was a tourney where Shami had to dish out 4 overs per game. Whereas the BGT is a different ballgame altogether, having extended spells and spending entire days on the ground. Given how wearisome bowling it is to bowl in a Test match, that too, in a high-octane BGT series, Shami should be preserved.
Considering all this, the Indian management and BCCI obviously had a say on Shami being added to Bengal’s Vijay Hazare Torphy squad. Apart from him, Mukesh Kumar also finds a place. Mukesh is currently part of the travelling reserves in the ongoing IND vs AUS BGT Test series.
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Shami was initially supposed to be a part of the BGT, but the BCCI Medical team decided to think otherwise. The staff has been watching the star pacer closely. Before playing for India, Shami was also told to get completely healthy and shed weight. Even captain Rohit Sharma stated at a news conference following the Adelaide Test defeat that although Shami’s door is open, they want to exercise caution before draughting him into the squad.
Vijay Hazare Trophy squad for Bengal ft. Mohammed Shami
Sudip Kumar Gharami (C), Mohammad Shami, Anustup Majumdar, Abhishek Porel (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Karan Lal, Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Sumanta Gupta, Subham Chatterjee, Ranjot Singh Khaira, Pradipta Pramanik, Kaushik Maity, Vikas Singh (Sr), Mukesh Kumar, Saksham Chaudhary, Rohit Kumar, Md Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh and Kanishk Seth
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