Mohammed Shami is marking his comeback from injury with his younger brother Kaif in the Ranji Trophy. (X)
After 360 days, India fast bowler Mohammed Shami finally marked his comeback to professional cricket with a Ranji Trophy outing for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.
It will mark a special moment for the veteran India pacer when he takes the field at the Holkar Stadium in Indore as Shami will be joined by his younger brother, Mohammed Kaif, in his First-Class comeback match. It is the first time that the brothers will be playing together at the senior level. Visitors Bengal were sent into bat after Madhya Pradesh won the toss.
The 34-year-old Shami is also playing his first Ranji Trophy match for Bengal since November 2018, when he featured in a one-off game against Kerala before embarking on a Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour to Australia then. Shami had picked up 16 wickets in the 2018-19 series as India claimed a historic 2-1 win Down Under.
Meanwhile, Kaif, a right-arm seamer like Shami, made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bengal in January 2024. The 27-year-old has thus far featured in eight red-ball games for the state, picking up 22 wickets besides 12 scalps in nine List A outings.
Since picking up an ankle injury during last year’s World Cup, Shami underwent surgery and was in line for a comeback during the home season. However, earlier this month, he suffered another setback through a swollen knee, which delayed his return.
Shami was not named in India’s 18-member Border Gavaskar Trophy squad, but the pacer was hopeful that might travel to Australia in the later half of the series.
Should he attain full-fitness, Shami is marked for a return in the second-leg of the series against Australia, which begins in Perth on November 22. Shami could target a comeback before the second Test in Adelaide, that begins only nine days later after the first game. India are also slated to play a two-day game in between the matches against Australia’s Prime Minister’s XI as a warm-up for the pink-ball Test.
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