Mohammed Shami is no longer in the selectors’ plans for the Indian team, regardless of format. The message has been clear for a while. Yet the veteran pacer continues to make his case on the field.
Even after being overlooked for the upcoming T20I assignments and the one-off Test against Afghanistan, Shami responded with a spectacular performance on debut in the Bengal T20 League at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
The experienced fast bowler not only claimed a hat-trick but also smashed a first-ball six to help Siliguri Strikers beat Rarh Tigers by 24 runs.
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Chasing 209, Rarh remained in the hunt thanks to Shuvam Dey’s 25-ball 48 and Rahul Prasad’s 26-ball 44. At 156 for 5 in the 16th over, they still had hope of pulling off an upset before Shami crushed those hopes in the space of three deliveries.
In his next over, he had Shahbaz Ahmed caught in the deep, induced a top edge from Rohit Kumar off a short ball, and then trapped Dipanjan Banerjee lbw to complete a memorable hat-trick.
The over effectively ended the contest as Rarh finished on 184 for 9 in 20 overs. Shami returned figures of 4 for 27, the best among Siliguri’s bowlers, while Karan Lal also claimed four wickets.
Earlier, Vishal Bhati powered Siliguri to 208 for 4 with a blistering 86 off 46 balls, striking five fours and six sixes. He was well supported by captain Sudip Chatterjee (32 off 23), Karan (39 off 28) and Pramod Chandila (36 off 16).
Shami arrived at the crease with two deliveries remaining in the innings. He launched the first ball he faced, bowled by Sukhmeet Singh, for six before taking two runs off the final delivery to finish unbeaten on eight from two balls.
Shami last represented India during the 2025 Champions Trophy. Since then, he has enjoyed an impressive domestic season.
The Bengal seamer finished among the top six wicket-takers in the recently concluded Ranji Trophy, claiming 37 wickets at an average of 16.72. He also played a key role in Bengal’s run to the semifinals, including a standout match haul of 8 for 90. However, Bengal eventually lost to eventual champions Jammu and Kashmir despite securing a first-innings lead.
Despite those performances, the selectors did not consider him for the Afghanistan Test, maintaining that the veteran pacer is not yet ready for the demands of red-ball cricket.
“As far as we have been told, at this point, his body is allowing him to… I know he has played the domestic season this year. But from the information that I have got is that at this point, T20 cricket is what he is sort of ready for. So, there was no discussion regarding his name,” Agarkar said last month.
