Mohammed Shami's return delayed, pacer not named in Bengal's Ranji Trophy matches in next two rounds

Mohammed Shami has not played in any competitive cricket since the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia. He underwent ankle surgery and is in the recovery phase. Shami had recently declared that he is 100% pain-free.

Mohammed Shami's return to competitive cricket has been further delayed as the Indian speedster has not found a place in the squad announced by Bengal for the next two rounds of the Ranji Trophy 2024/25. 

Shami, who has been on the mend following his ankle surgery, has missed out on action for almost a year. His last appearance in competitive cricket came way back in the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia. The speedster has missed out on all the cricketing action and is also not part of the touring party for the Border-Gavaskar series starting this month.

Shami had earlier said that he is 100% pain-free and is targeting to feature in one or two Ranji Trophy matches before looking to feature in the high-octane India vs Australia Test series. However, he has not played in any of the first three rounds and is now not part of the next two rounds too. 

"The Australia series is still far away. The only thing I want to focus on is how to keep myself fit, and how strong I can be before going there. I know what kind of an attack we want for that Test series, so it's better I spend some more time on the ground before going. If I get fit and I get a gap of eight to ten days, then it's better I play one or two domestic matches before going to Australia," Shami said on the sidelines of an event last month.

The fourth round of the Ranji Trophy tournament will get underway from November 6, while the fifth round takes place from November 13 onwards. The fifth round will also be the final one of the first phase of the domestic premier tournament. The second phase will feature the remaining league matches along with the knockouts. In between the two rounds, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy are sandwiched. 

Coming back to the Bengal squad, Anustup Majumdar will be leading the team once again as Abhimanyu Easwaran is with the India A squad for the unofficial Tests against Australia A. He is also in the Indian squad for the BGT. Bengal wicketkeeper batter Abishek Porel and speedster Mukesh Kumar are also with the India A team and are not picked for the next two Ranji Trophy rounds. 

Akash Deep has not been included too as he is on national duty. He was part of the squad for the New Zealand series and will be on the flight to Australia too.

Bengal squad: Anustup Majumdar (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Sudip Gharami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Writtick Chatterjee, Avilin Ghosh, Shuvam Dey, Shakir Habib Gandhi, Pradipta Pramanik, Aamir Gani, Ishan Porel, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mohammed Kaif, Rohit Kumar, Rishav Vivek