Speculations have been going on for a long time on the potential return of Mohammad Shami in comparative cricket, as he was preparing himself for the upcoming five-match red-ball series of the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at a certain point. Despite regaining fitness in his rehab, the recent knee injury made the progress tough.
Mohammad Shami had an excellent time in last year’s ODI World Cup 2023 at home, where he finished as the leading wicket-taker of the event with 24 scalps in seven innings at an average of under 11 and a strike rate of 12.20 with the best figure of 7/57 during the semifinal of the competition. Later, he missed the trip to South Africa and the home red-ball series against England after undergoing a successful surgery.
The reports claimed that the Bengal pacer was expected to make a return to the international stage during the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. But the Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, confirmed the new injury of the pacer and felt that it wouldn’t be the right decision for them to carry the half-fit bowler to Australia.
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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) later announced the squad for the BGT 2024-25, where they decided not to pick Mohammad Shami for the entire tour. The experience of the pacer is something that the Blue Brigade is going to miss a lot.
Mohammad Shami finds rhythm with a spell of 4/54 in 19 overs
When it comes to facing Australia, the right-arm pacer has recorded 44 wickets in 12 red-ball games at an average of over 32 and a strike rate of 53.80 with the help of two five-wicket hauls. Out of those, 31 Test scalps came down under in 15 innings at an average of 32.16 and a strike rate of 54.20.
The last Test for Mohammad Shami came nearly 17 months ago during the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 when he faced the Pat Cummins-led side at the Kennington Oval in South London. The fast bowlers have grabbed 229 wickets in 64 red-ball games at an average of under 28 and a strike rate of 50, shouldering on six five-wicket hauls at the best bowling figure of 6/56.
Finally, 300 days after his final comparative game, the Uttar Pradesh-born returned to the auction during the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 clash against Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. The 34-year-old went wicketless across ten overs on the opening day but made a superb comeback on the second day of the fixture.
He picked up four wickets in the first session on the second day to help Bengal gain a vital 61-run first-innings lead over the home side. In 19 overs, he finished with figures of 4/54, removing the MP captain, Shubham Sharma, and then getting the better of the all-rounder Saaransh Jain to entertain the possibility of the sizable lead.
Excellent comeback 💥@MdShami11 bowled an impressive spell of 4/54 on his comeback, playing for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh in the #RanjiTrophy match in Indore 👌👌
Watch 📽️ highlights of his spell in the first innings 🔽@IDFCFIRSTBank
Scorecard: pic.twitter.com/sxKktrQJbL
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) November 14, 2024
Also Read: Mohammed Shami Set To Return To Cricket For Bengal In Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024- Reports
He looked a bit ginger while starting his run-up on his first over in the previous evening, but as he kept on running with the red cherry, the rhythm slowly started to come as he gathered the pace, making it hard for the batters to spend much time in the middle.
It’s the first Ranji Trophy game for Mohammad Shami since November 2018, when he featured in a one-off encounter against Kerala before the BGT 2018/19. Another superb show could lead the BCCI selectors, including him in the upcoming tour of Australia.
