Mohammed Shami produced another impressive performance in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and took Bengal into the quarterfinals of the premier domestic tournament. The Indian pacer starred with a decent all-round display to help his team edge past Chandigarh in the pre-quarterfinal 1 by three runs at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Monday, December 9.
Shami, who is out of the Indian team currently, scored 32 runs off the bat in 17 deliveries, before ending the day with figures of 1/25 in his four overs. He showed no signs of rust and looked good with the ball. Moreover, he also looked leaner as compared to when he played his first Ranji Trophy game on his return last month.
With Bengal reeling at 114/8 after 15.2 overs, Shami played a good cameo to take his team to a competitive total in the clash at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. He hit two sixes and three fours in his stroke-filled knock. Shami scored 19 runs off seasoned Sandeep Sharma in the final over of Bengal's innings.
With the ball, the Indian speedster delivered his four overs in two spells. He bowled three overs in his first spell and got the wicket of Arsalan Z Khan off the third delivery. He displayed some movement with the new ball too.
The 34-year-old speedster gave only 11 runs in his first three overs and bowled at an average speed of 135 kmph. He even touched 139 kmph once.
Is Shami fit for Test cricket again?
While these are all promising signs, there is a question mark whether Shami is fit for Test cricket currently and can fly to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. As reported in PTI, the selectors are wanting to pick him in the squad but there are discussions in the BCCI that the Indian pacer has said that "he is still not Test match ready".
It added that Shami has been informing his assessors that he is facing no issues while bowling but feels a little swelling in his knee after games. This was also informed by the Indian captain Rohit Sharma after the conclusion of the second Test match against Australia in Adelaide.
