Well, fans who were waiting to see Mohammed Shami in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) this year is over. While he wasn’t picked in the 18-man squad for the mega Test tour, Shami had a chance of making a return to the team had he performed well in the upcoming Ranji Trophy matches. Unfortunately, he has not been included in Bengal’s next two fixtures, ruling out any opportunity for him to make his much-awaited comeback.
Mohammed Shami not ‘fit’ enough… still
Shami, who hasn’t played competitive cricket since the 2023 World Cup final against Australia, was expected to represent Bengal in their fourth-round Ranji Trophy clash against Karnataka in Bengaluru on November 06. However, that will not be the case now. Bengal’s fifth fixture will be against Madhya Pradesh in Indore on November 13.
Shami’s non-selection shows that he might not just be fit enough after going through a surgery in February. The 34-year-old has been actively sharing his rehabilitation progress on Instagram. In his latest post, Shami shared a video of an intense workout session with his trainer, accompanied by a heartfelt message expressing his desire to regain fitness and return to domestic cricket as a stepping stone to representing India again.
In Shami’s absence, India’s pace attack will be spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah, with Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep providing support. The squad also includes promising pacers like Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana, who has got his maiden Test call-up. Additionally, Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed have been named as reserve players, ensuring adequate backup options in Australia.
Bengal squad for Ranji matches against Karnataka & MP
Anustup Majumdar, Wriddhiman Saha, Sudip Chatterjee, Sudip Kr Gharami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Writtick Chatterjee, Avilin Ghosh, Shuvam Dey, Shakir Habib Gandhi, Pradipta Pramanik, Aamir Gani, Ishan Porel, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Md Kaif, Rohit Kumar, Rishav Vivek
