Veteran Indian pacer Mohammed Shami is reportedly on track for a return to domestic cricket after being included in Bengal’s list of 50 probables for the upcoming season. According to ESPNCricinfo, Shami could also feature in the East Zone team for the season-opening Duleep Trophy, which is scheduled to begin on August 28. The tournament, which returns to its traditional inter-zonal format, may mark Shami’s comeback to competitive cricket if he makes the final squad. Shami was left out of the 18-member Indian squad for the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy after the BCCI’s medical team informed the board that the 34-year-old fast bowler would not be able to sustain long bowling spells. This assessment led to his exclusion from the England Test series.
The Bengal probables list includes several key domestic performers such as Abhimanyu Easwaran, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Abishek Porel, alongside Shami. Shami has missed several major international assignments in recent months, including last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia, India’s tour of the West Indies, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
Reflecting on his injury and recovery journey, Shami shared his thoughts in an interview with BCCI TV. “I waited for an entire year and I worked very hard. There was a sense of fear even while running about what will happen or what will not happen. It’s very difficult for any player to get injured while he is in full flow. Then go to the NCA for rehabilitation and make a comeback. When you go through injuries, I feel you grow stronger as an athlete. Because you have to repeat a lot of things while being mentally strong,” he said.
Shami’s possible return to domestic cricket is being closely watched, with fans and selectors alike hopeful that the experienced pacer can regain full fitness and push for a national comeback in the near future.
The Bengal probables list includes a mix of experienced and emerging talents. Apart from Shami, it features names such as Abhimanyu Easwaran, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Shahbaz Ahmed, and Abishek Porel. These players are expected to form the core of Bengal’s squad for the upcoming domestic tournaments, including the Ranji Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Bengal’s 50-member probables list:
Mohammed Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Anustup Majumdar, Sudip Chatterjee, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Abishek Porel (wk), Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Kazi Junaid Saifi, Shahbaz Ahamed, Pradipta Pramanik, Writtick Chatterjee, Karan Lal, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Sindhu Jaiswal, Ishan Porel, Mohammed Kaif, Subham Chatterjee, Sumanta Gupta, Chinmoy Jain, Ranjot Singh Khaira, Ankur Paul, Rahul Kundu, Aditya Purohit, Gaurav Singh Chauhan, Saurabh Kumar Singh, Aishik Patel, Priyanshu Srivastava, Ankit Chatterjee, Saksham Chaudhary, Aamir Gani, Vikash Singh (Junior), Rishabh Chaudhary, Raju Halder, Shreyan Chakraborty, Sourav Halder, Rahul Prasad, Ankit Mishra, Subham Sarkar, Vishal Bhati, Rohit, Rohit Kumar, Rishabh Vivek, Sumit Mohanta, Kanishk Seth, Sandipan Das (Junior), Sayan Ghosh, Nuruddin Mondal, Soummyadip Mandal, and Yudhajit Guha.
With Bengal’s domestic season approaching and the Duleep Trophy on the horizon, all eyes will be on Shami as he attempts to script another comeback in a career defined by resilience and world-class fast bowling