According to ESPNcricinfo, fast bowler Mohammed Shami who wasn’t picked for the England tour is on Bengal’s list of 50 players for the next domestic season.
Shami might play for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy starting August 28. This could be his first competitive game. The 34-year-old has played 64 Tests, 108 ODIs and 25 T20Is. He last played for India in the Champions Trophy in March.
Without Jasprit Bumrah, Shami led India’s pace attack as they won the Champions Trophy against New Zealand. Shami took 9 wickets in 5 matches, same as Varun Chakravarthy who took 9 wickets in 3 matches.
Though he took a lot of wickets, Shami gave away a lot of runs. He was India’s most expensive bowler with an economy rate of 5.68. After the tournament Shami joined Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
Sunrisers didn’t do well and finished 6th in the group stage. Shami also didn’t do well, took 6 wickets in 9 innings and gave away 11.23 runs per over.
So Shami wasn’t picked for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series. Ajit Agarkar, the chief selector for BCCI said that medical staff said Shami was out due to his health.
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Agarkar said in a press conference before India’s tour that Shami was trying to get fit but had a setback and had MRIs done. He probably couldn’t play 5 Tests and they couldn’t wait any longer. It was unfortunate because they wanted to pick a bowler like him.
Shami had been out of the field for over a year due to ankle injury before he attempted to return to India’s national team. He recovered from ankle surgery in February 2024 but had pain in his right knee and has been getting treatment for it.
