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Mohammed Shami, the Indian fast bowler, who has been playing for Bengal in domestic cricket in the recent weeks, won’t be taking part in the opening match for his state team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2024-25. The decision from the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) to leave out Mohammed Shami came after he was reportedly advised by the BCCI’s Center of Excellence in Bengaluru to rest as a precautionary measure, safeguarding him from further knee issues.
Notably, following his recovery from an ankle injury, which forced him to miss out on action for the majority of the year, Mohammed Shami picked up a knee issue on his comeback trail to competitive cricket. During the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2024, the right-arm pacer bowled 35.3 overs in nine matches, taking 11 wickets at an economy of 7.85 after returning to cricket for Bengal in Ranji Trophy clash against Madhya Pradesh, bowling 43.2 overs for his seven wickets.
Mohammed Shami might take part in remainder of VHT matches for Bengal
After these bowling returns, Mohammed Shami was picked by Bengal in their VHT 2024-25 squad, and he was expected to take part in their tournament opener against Delhi at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday, December 21, but it’s not going to be the case now. Bengal are in Group E of the 50-overs tournament alongside teams like Delhi, Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, and Tripura.
Moreover, in one of his recent interviews, when Rohit Sharma was asked about the potential of Mohammed Shami joining the Indian cricket team for the BGT 2024-25 series in Australia, he explicitly asked NCA about giving a fitness update on the bowler to everyone. He was also quoted as saying, “I understand he's playing a lot of cricket back home, but there have been some complaints about his knee as well. We won't take any risks unless we are 200% sure about his fitness.”
Below is Bengal’s squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25:
Bengal: Sudip Kumar Gharami (c), 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
