Courtesy: BCCI
Mohammed Shami, the Indian fast bowler, is reportedly set to play for Bengal in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2024-25, which is set to begin on December 21. After returning to cricket from injury for Bengal during the ongoing Indian domestic season, Mohammed Shami has been heavily rumoured to travel to Australia, to play for India the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series, but now, it’s unlikely to happen.
Notably, during the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024, Mohammed Shami played a key role for Bengal in reaching the quarter-final stage, but they lost the contest last night to Baroda by 41 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. In the SMAT 2024, Mohammed Shami faced an issue of swollen knee after bowling four-over spells each match, raising doubts about whether he was ready to bowl lengthy spells.
Mohammed Shami returned to cricket after a long injury layoff
As per the report from the Indian Express, Mohammed Shami underwent a fresh fitness test, but it indicated that the pacer isn’t ready to be a part of the BGT series. Shortly after, Subhayan Chakraborty of RevSportz took to his X account, to reveal that Mohammed Shami is set to play for Bengal in the VHT 2024-25, and if that ends up happening, then it is a foregone conclusion that the Indian fast bowler won’t be in time to make his arrival to Australia for BGT.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, had earlier spoken about the potential of Mohammed Shami returning to Test cricket on their tour to Australia, but he didn’t sound too optimistic about it. He was quoted as saying, “We want to be more than 100% sure with him because it has been a long time. We don't want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team. There are some professionals monitoring, we will take a call based on what those guys feel. They are the ones watching him every game, how he pulls up after the game, after bowling four overs, standing for 20 overs. But the door is open for him to come and play anytime.”
