Indian fiery pacer Mohammed Shami, on the road to recovery after undergoing a successful ankle surgery, was named in West Bengal’s 31 probables for the forthcoming domestic cricket season on Tuesday. The pacer had been out of all cricketing action, to the extent that he was ultimately ruled out of the ODI World Cup held in November last year. His absence was deeply felt by his domestic team and the national side.

Rehabilitating at the NCA in Bengaluru, the 33-year-old speedster has started to bowl full strength in the nets and is reasonably confident of a comeback in the home international fixtures beginning on September 19 against Bangladesh.

Shami is set to represent Bengal in an away game against Uttar Pradesh starting on October 11, according to ESPN Cricinfo. He can also turn up for the home game against Bihar that starts on October 18. But whether he makes it into every domestic and international selection remains to be seen.

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Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar sounded hopeful about Shami’s return to international cricket during the Bangladesh series. But the Indian board’s primary focus is still on the tour of Australia, which starts on November 5. His availability in all fixtures will depend upon his recovery process.

Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury, has been named in Bengal’s probable squad for the upcoming 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season. This inclusion suggests that Shami is nearing full fitness.#MohammedShami #BCCI #ICC #IPL2025 #Bengal… pic.twitter.com/esuG6P5uta

— little things (@littlethings94k) August 28, 2024

Incidentally, Mohammed Shami’s younger brother Mohammed Kaif has also been selected in Bengal’s probable list, featuring the veteran wicketkeeper-batter Wriddhiman Saha. Recently, Saha buried his differences with the Cricket Association of Bengal and came back to Bengal from Tripura.

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Bengal had a disappointing run in the domestic competitions last season, as they didn’t manage to qualify from the Ranji Trophy group stage, finished third in Group B behind Mumbai and Andhra Pradesh. Later on, things further deteriorated as they suffered a defeat in the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and faced an exit in the pre-quarterfinals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament. On this occasion, Shami, along with others, will be vying for a better outing.