After making a return to competitive cricket through the Ranji Trophy, speedster Mohammed Shami has been named in the Bengal squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Shami picked up a seven-wicket match haul in the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy after his return following a long injury lay-off.
Shami is set to play his first T20 match since the IPL 2023 final in the tournament. As he is named in this tournament, his return to the Indian team might see more delay. As reported by PTI earlier, Shami's India comeback is likely to happen in the second half of the Border-Gavaskar series. The BGT gets underway on November 22 in Perth. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy kicks off on November 23.
Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla expected Shami to be in the Bengal team if he is not going for the BGT. "Bengal team for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be selected tomorrow. If Shami is not going for Border Gavaskar Trophy, I believe he will be available for Bengal," head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla had told PTI.
On his return to the Ranji Trophy, Shami picked up four wickets in the first innings followed by three in the second. He also made 37 with the bat during the clash against Madhya Pradesh. He helped his team clinch the match by 11 runs. The Indian team would be looking to get Shami back in the Border-Gavaskar trophy squad as soon as it can be as he will give major boost to the bowling line-up.
Talking about the Bengal squad for the SMAT, Shami's younger brother Mohammed Kaif is also in the team that will be led by Sudip Gharami. It also includes IPL players Abhishek Porel and Shahbaz Ahmed.
Bengal squad:
Sudip Gharami (capt), Mohammad Shami, Abishek Porel (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karan Lal, Writtick Chatterjee, Ritwick Roy Chowdhury, Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Ranjot Singh Khaira, Prayas Ray Barman, Agniv Pan (wk), Pradipta Pramanik, Saksham Chaudhary, Ishan Porel, Mohammed Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth, Soummyadip Mandal
