Sidelined Indian star taken in as Bengal name Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad

Out-of-favour India pacer Mohammed Shami, who picked 20 wickets in four matches in the first phase of Ranji Trophy, has been included in Bengal’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) squad. Shami recovered from his leg injury and is fit once again, has played four of Bengal’s five matches in Ranji Trophy this season.

The 15 wickets by Mohammed Shami in the first two matches were key to Bengal’s two back-to-back wins over Uttarakhand and Gujarat at the start of the season as they lead the group C standings. Shami was on Friday named along with another India pacer Akash Deep in Bengal’s 17- member squad to be captained by Abhimanyu Easwaran.

The Indian selectors seemed to have moved past Mohammed Shami, having sidelined him for the white ball series in Australia and then the ongoing Test rubber against South Africa. But the veteran pacer, however, is keen to make a comeback again.

“My motivation is to stay fit and be available for the India team. It’s not my job to update selectors on fitness,” Shami had said earlier during the Ranji Trophy.

The Bengal squad also has promising keeper-batter Abhishek Porel who is back after playing for India A in the Rising Asia Cup tournament. Placed in group C, Bengal will face Baroda in their opening encounter of this T20 tournament in Hyderabad on November 26.

Bengal Squad:
Abhimanyu Easwaran (Captain), Sudip Gharami, Abishek Porel (WK), Shakir Habib Gandhi (WK), Yuvraj Keswani, Priyanshu Srivastav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pradipta Pramanik, Writtick Chatterjee, Karan Lal. Saksham Chaudhary, Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep, Sayan Ghosh, Kanishk Seth, Yudhajit Guha, Shreyan Chakraborty.