Mohammed Shami has been named in Bengal’s squad for the Ranji Trophy opener against Uttarakhand on 15 October, a quiet but notable step in the fast bowler’s attempt to return to international duty. He will share the new ball with Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar and Ishan Porel, giving Bengal a pace group most state teams would happily trade for.
The side will be captained by Abhimanyu Easwaran after a late switch that moved veteran batter Anustup Majumdar out of the role. People around the set-up say the decision followed a conversation with Sourav Ganguly, recently installed as president of the Cricket Association of Bengal. Nobody is pretending it was straightforward, but the change is done and the squad seems content enough.
Shami, 35, last played for India in the Champions Trophy back in March. When chief selector Ajit Agarkar was quizzed about the bowler’s exclusion from the West Indies Tests, he said it was down to “lack of match time”. Since the IPL ended in June, Shami’s only red-ball outing was for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy, where 34 overs brought a solitary wicket. He barely bowled on the final day, East Zone fell behind on first-innings lead, and that was that. The Ranji start feels like a much-needed spell in the middle.
For Akash Deep and Mukesh, the tournament doubles as an audition for the South Africa Tests beginning 14 November. Akash took ten wickets in Birmingham during the England tour but then spent weeks in rehab with a back complaint. He passed a fitness test yet still missed the West Indies series. Mukesh’s summer was quieter—a single match for India A in England, three wickets, then a hamstring twinge in the Duleep opener. He, too, has cleared medical checks at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence.
Bengal sit in Group C alongside Assam, Services, Tripura, Railways, Haryana and Gujarat. Home advantage at Eden Gardens is handy, though October pitches can be unpredictable—bit of grass early, flat by day three. Easwaran thinks the attack covers most bases. “We’ve got decent pace and the spinners can hold an end,” he told local reporters yesterday. Simple words, but he tends to mean what he says.
No one in the camp is promising fireworks. They just want overs under the belt, runs on the board and, if things break their way, a nudge to the national selectors. It sounds modest, yet for Shami and company it could be the most important month of the season.
