Fit-again Shami set for comeback in Ranji Trophy

Mohammed Shami will make his long-awaited comeback to competitive cricket in the Ranji Trophy.

Shami will play for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Madhya Pradesh, starting in Indore on Wednesday.

The fast bowler is making a comeback after an injury lay-off spanning nearly a year. He last featured for India in the World Cup against Australia in Ahmedabad last November.

The 34-year-old last played in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia and has since been sidelined due to an ankle injury for which he underwent surgery earlier this year.

"In a major boost to Indian cricket and the Bengal Ranji Trophy team, star pacer Mohammad Shami will make a comeback into competitive cricket for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match in Indore starting on Wednesday," CAB secretary Naresh Ojha said in a statement.

Ojha said Shami will spearhead the Bengal pace bowling unit and the Indian thinktank in Australia too will closely follow Shami's outing.

India have opted for a largely untested pace attack for the Border-Gavaskar

Trophy with rookies such as Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prasidh Krishna backing senior pros Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Khaleel Ahmed are in the reserves, but all of them come with minimal exposure to Test cricket.

There was intense speculation surrounding Shami's inclusion in the Indian squad to tour Australia but skipper Rohit Sharma struck down such thoughts saying he did not prefer taking an "undercooked" senior pacer Down Under.

Shami had played a big role in India's historic 2-1 Test series victory in 2018-19 against Australia, claiming 16 wickets at an average of 26.18.

Instead, Shami focused on regaining optimum fitness at the NCA and he also bowled at full tilt at nets while India bowling coach Morne Morkel kept a close watch.

The nearly one-hour session took place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru after India's first Test against New Zealand last month. Later Shami also said during a promotional event that he was feeling "100 per cent" about his fitness and bowling levels.

Shami was also impressive during his outing for India in the ODI World Cup last year. The 34-year-old was the top wicket-taker in the ICC showpiece with 24 wickets in seven matches at an average of 10.70.

Since then, he was out of action with an Achilles tendon injury on his right leg, for which the pacer underwent surgery in March.