At last, Mohammed Shami will play his first competitive match. The right-arm pacer was expected to play a couple of Ranji Trophy games before the India cricket team departed for Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). But another injury during his rehabilitation had sidelined him even further. Therefore, Shami was left out of India’s squad for BGT.
Shami back for Bengal
Shami is expected to take the field tomorrow for Bengal’s match against Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. The pacer has been cleared by the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has confirmed that Shami would be available and that his would significantly improve their chances of making the next stage of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season.
Shami in BGT?
It’s yet to be seen how Shami performs and whether he’s able to bowl at full intensity after being out of the game for nearly a year. But the comeback might be perfect for the pacer. He can try and get into his rhythm in the Ranji Trophy, and if he requires more game time, he can play a couple of matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), which starts on November 23.
After that, if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) feels that he’s ready to play in Australia, he might be called for the latter half of the BGT. Although Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have played in Australia before, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, and Akash Deep aren’t experienced, and form also remains an issue for most of the players. His services might be needed, granted his fit and firing.
Bengal’s squad vs 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, Mohammed Shami
