New Delhi: Indian pacer Mohammed Shami on Monday was named in Bengal’s 20-member squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) announced its squad under the leadership of Sudeep Gharami.
The development comes after numerous reports suggested that Shami could fly to Australia along with captain Rohit Sharma to join the Indian squad for the first Test match against Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 34-year-old seam bowler recently returned to competitive cricket after nearly an injury layoff for a year.
He featured in Bengal’s nail-biting 11-run win over Madhya Pradesh in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season. Shami played an instrumental role, picking up seven wickets across both innings and scored 37 with bat in the second innings while batting at No.10.
“Shami a big boost for Bengal, Gharami to lead in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy,” the statement from CAB read.
“After his outstanding return to competitive cricket via Ranji Trophy, star India pacer Mohammad Shami will now spearhead Bengal’s bowling attack in the forthcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy while young and talented batsman Sudip Kr Gharami has been named the captain for the tournament,” the statement further added.
Bengal will start its SMAT campaign against reigning champions Punjab on November 23 in Rajkot.
Bengal Squad for SMAT 2024: Sudip Kr Gharami (captain), 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, Md Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth, Soummyadip Mandal
Shami’s inclusion for Bengal indicates firm decision of India for Border-Gavaskar Trophy call-up
Mohammed Shami’s selection was a major question before the Indian cricket board announced the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Shami hit nets after India’s first Test match defeat to New Zealand in Bengaluru last month. He declared himself fit to play cricket after recovering from an ankle injury, which further led him to undergo surgery.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said they didn’t want to take an ‘undercooked’ Shami to Australia for the five-match Test series. The first Test match between India and Australia starts in Perth on Friday, November 2022, just a day before the start of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Indian pacer Mohammed Shami on Monday was named in Bengal’s 20-member squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) announced its squad under the leadership of Sudeep Gharami. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
