Mohammed Shami’s return to competitive cricket has been further delayed due to a fresh injury setback. The Bengal pacer, who has been sidelined since November 2022 with an ankle injury, has now developed a side strain that has ruled him out of the next two Ranji Trophy matches.
Shami’s absence from the Bengal squad for the matches against Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh effectively ends his hopes of being included in India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, starting November 22. Despite showing positive signs of recovery from his ankle injury, Shami’s side strain has extended his comeback timeline.
The 32-year-old had resumed bowling at full intensity last month and expressed optimism about his recovery. However, the latest setback has dashed his hopes of a swift return to action.
Shami’s ankle injury had kept him out of action since the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy season, where he was the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 24 wickets in just seven games. Despite the pain and fatigue, he had taken three five-wicket hauls in the tournament.
The Bengal squad for the next two Ranji Trophy matches includes Anustup Majumdar (capt), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Sudip Gharami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Writtick Chatterjee, Avilin Ghosh, Shuvam Dey, Shakir Habib Gandhi, Pradipta Pramanik, Aamir Gani, Ishan Porel, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Mohammed Kaif, Rohit Kumar, and Rishav Vivek.
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy includes Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, and Washington Sundar.
