India fast-bowler Mohammed Shami, who is recovering from an ankle injury, will not play in Bengal’s upcoming Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka, starting from November 6 in Bengaluru. The squad led by Anustup Majumdar, announced on Saturday, did not include Shami’s name. Though the Bengal squad remains unchanged for the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy against Madhya Pradesh, there is a high likelihood of Shami taking part in the match scheduled to begin from November 13 at Holkar Stadium in Indore.

Bengal, with coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla at the helm, holds the fourth spot in Elite Group C with five points after three Ranji Trophy matches.

“Shami will not be playing the Bengal game against Karnataka, and most probably, he will play the match against Madhya Pradesh. The information received from the BCCI Centre of Excellence was that he will not be rushed into action. There have also been thoughts that Shami wants to do his competitive cricket return at his pace and comfort,” said sources to IANS.

Shami, who’s taken 229 wickets in 64 Tests, bowled in the Indian team nets to Shubman Gill and a padded-up assistant coach Abhishek Nayar at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium after they lost the Test series opener to New Zealand by eight wickets on October 20.

The very next day, Shami said at a promotional event at Gurugram that he was 100% pain-free and expressed his keen interest in playing a few domestic matches. It will be interesting to see if Shami will be available for the Indian team through the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Brisbane, starting from December 14.

Shami’s last competitive cricket match was when India played the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup final against Australia at Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023. In that tournament, despite not playing in India’s initial matches, Shami picked 24 wickets at an average of 10.70 to be the leading wicket-taker in the competition.

He then successfully underwent surgery on February 26 in London this year for solving his right achilles tendon problem and has been at the NCA since then for rehabilitation and recovery programme, followed by a recent gradual return to bowling.

Shami had played a pivotal role in India’s first-ever Test series win in Australia in 2018/19, where he picked 16 wickets in four matches at an average of 26.18. Though he didn’t play after the first Test in Adelaide in the 2020/21 tour due to a fractured right forearm, India managed to secure an unforgettable 2-1 triumph.

Bengal Squad: Anustup Majumdar, Wriddhiman Saha, Sudip Chatterjee, Sudip Kr Gharami, Shahbaz Ahmed, Writtick Chatterjee, Avilin Ghosh, Shuvam Dey, Shakir Habib Gandhi, Pradipta Pramanik, Aamir Gani, Ishan Porel, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Md Kaif, Rohit Kumar, Rishav Vivek

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