Mohammed Shami has made his much-awaited return to professional cricket for Bengal. Here’s how the India seamer has performed since his comeback from a long injury hiatus.
Shami hasn’t played for India since his prolific performance in the ODI World Cup last year due to an ankle injury. He subsequently underwent a surgery. A lengthy rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru followed, forcing him to skip the 2024 Indian Premier League.
Shami returns in style
While Shami couldn’t get fit in time to make it to India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he played his first professional match in nearly a year, for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh in this year’s Ranji Trophy. This was also his first appearance in India’s first-class competition since 2018-19.
In his comeback match, Shami bowled 43.2 overs across both innings. He opened the bowling and despite sending down some good deliveries, he largely sprayed in line and length, going wicketless on the first day.
On the second day, however, Shami got back his mojo by playing a role in a collapse. He finished with 4-54 off 19 overs to bowl out the opposition for 167 – 61 runs short of Bengal’s first innings.
Adelaide was Rohit Sharma's fourth consecutive loss as captain in less than two months, one more than the number of bad calls he felt was okay in a year.@CoverDrivenFor4 writes how the captain is fast becoming India's unlucky charm.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 10, 2024
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With the bat, Shami walked in at 10, contributing with a 36-ball 37, including two fours and as many sixes. Then he took three more wickets, taking his match tally to seven to give Bengal an 11-run victory.
Powers Bengal to SMAT 2024 quarterfinals
Since his red-ball comeback, Shami has also played eight matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's domestic T20 tournament. He has taken nine wickets at an average of 26.22 and an economy of 7.49 so far, taking Bengal to the quarter-finals.
In his most recent outing in the preliminary quarter-final match against Chandigarh, Shami registered his highest T20 score of 32. His 17-ball stay was studded with three fours and two sixes and helped Bengal recover from 114-8 to 159-9. Defending the total, he took just three balls to dismiss Chandigarh opener Arslan Khan. Bengal won the match by three runs and entered the quarterfinals, with Shami taking 1-25 off his full quota.
In the preceding fixture against Rajasthan Shami took 3-26. His other three-wicket (3-21) haul came against Hyderabad earlier.
While reports suggested Shami could be in contention to play the last two Tests in Australia following India’s heavy loss in Adelaide, Rohit Sharma said he doesn’t want to rush the fast bowler’s international comeback.
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