Mohammed Shami Named In Bengal’s Vijay Hazare Trophy Squad Amidst Ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy

India pacer Mohammed Shami has been named in the Bengal squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Hyderabad: Indian pacer Mohammed Shami who is eyeing a comeback to the national squad has been named in the Bengal’s squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The right-arm pacer is looking to prove his fitness for the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy where the series is levelled at 1-1.

India captain Rohit Sharma had mentioned ahead of the Adelaide Test that the "door is very much open" for the 34-year-old to join the squad in Australia. However, he had mentioned concern regarding the fitness of the star pacer. India are currently playing the third Test of the series while the fourth fixture will commence on December 26 in Melbourne.

Shami last played for India at the 2023 World Cup but has been out of the side due to fitness issues after that. He had an ankle surgery in February. He returned to action in the Ranji Trophy and took seven wickets against Madhya Pradesh.

He then featured in all nine matches for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy taking 11 wickets with an economy of 7.85. However, his knee got swollen during the tournament which hampered his preparation for the return to the national side.

Apart from Shami, Mukesh Kumar will also feature in the Bengal side captained by Sudip Kumar Gharami. The team will kick off their campaign against Delhi in Hyderabad from December 21.

Squad: Sudip Kumar Gharami (capt), Mohammed Shami, Anustup Majumdar, Abishek Porel (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Karan Lal, Shakir Habib Gandhi (wk), Sumanta Gupta, Subham Chatterjee, Ranjot Singh Khaira, Pradipta Pramanik, Kaushik Maity, Vikas Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Saksham Chaudhary, Rohit Kumar, Mohammed Kaif, Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth