Mohammed Shami will now play in this T20 tournament, will have to prove full fitness for Australia Test series, brother is also in the team

By News Update On Nov 19, 2024

Bengal has announced its team for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024-25, in which India's star fast bowler Mohammed Shami has been included. Recently, Shami made a comeback to professional cricket while playing for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 match played against Madhya Pradesh. This was their first match after the ODI World Cup final against Australia in November 2023. He was away from cricket due to surgery on an ankle injury he suffered in February.

Shami made a strong comeback in the match against Madhya Pradesh, bowling 43.2 overs in both the innings and taking six wickets. He played an important inning of 37 runs in 36 balls, due to which Bengal set the target of 338 runs in the second innings. After this performance, there were also reports that Shami can go to Australia for the five-Test series starting from November 22.

The fast bowler's fitness will be assessed by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) in the tournament starting on November 23. According to PTI, the medical staff and selection committee want Shami to play a few more matches before flying to Australia to see how his body is after playing so many matches, even if it is white-ball games.

Shami's brother Mohammad Kaif is also part of the Bengal team for this tournament. Apart from this, IPL star Abhishek Pole, Shahbaz Ahmed are also in the team.

Bengal is in Group A in this tournament, which includes Hyderabad, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Bihar, Rajasthan and Punjab.

Bengal team: Sudeep Kumar Gharami (captain), Abhishek Porel (wicketkeeper), Sudeep Chatterjee, Shahbaz Ahmed, Karan Lal, Hrithik Chatterjee, Ritwik Roy Choudhary, Shakir Habib Gandhi (wicketkeeper), Ranjot Singh Khaira, Prayas Ray Barman, Agniv Pan (wicketkeeper), Pradipta Pramanik, Saksham Chaudhary, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Porel, Mohammed Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth and Soumyadeep Mandal.