Mohammed Shami not picked for next two rounds of Ranji Trophy for Bengal

Mohammed Shami was not picked in Bengal's Ranji Trophy squad for the next two round against Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

In Short

• Mohammed Shami's return to competitive cricket delayed
• Shami didn't feature in Bengal's Ranji Trophy squad
• The speedster is also not part of India's 5-match Test series vs Australia

Star India pacer Mohammed Shami's return to competitive cricket has been further delayed. Shami has not been included in Bengal's squad for Ranji Trophy 2024 round four and five. Bengal team's coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla had earlier revealed that Shami was keen on playing Ranji games ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy series. However, the pacer didn't get to feature in India's 18-member squad as he continues to recover from his ankle surgery. However, Shami won't feature in Bengal's squad against Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

"We are hopeful that Shami will join us for games against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh," Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla told The Indian Express last week."He is a valuable player for India and the team, his service will be required for the Australia series. Recently, he mentioned how keen he is about playing a couple of Ranji games for Bengal before travelling to Australia. Good outings in the Ranji Trophy will be good for him ahead of the Australia tour and will be a big boost for us. Our four key players are playing for India and India A," said Shukla.

Why Shami's return was delayed?

Shami has been out of competitive cricket since the ODI World Cup 2023 and underwent surgery in February due to an Achilles heel injury. Shami apologised to his fans and the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) for not getting fit in time for the upcoming five-match Test series against Australia. Notably, Shami was not named in the squad for the Australia tour as youngsters Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana getting a nod ahead him.

A day after missing the team, Shami shared a video of him training in the gym along with a message for his fans. The speedster mentioned that he’s working towards gaining his bowling fitness every day and will soon return to play domestic red ball cricket. He also apologized to the fans and the BCCI and promised to return back in action soon.

He was tipped to make a comeback for the Test series at home against Bangladesh and New Zealand but suffered another setback through a swollen knee, which delayed his return.

Bengal's Ranji Trophy squad

Bengal squad for fourth and fifth rounds of Ranji Trophy 2024-25: 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.