Bengal selectors name Mohammed Shami in 50-member probables list for 2025-26 season

 

Mohammed Shami's roadmap to an international comeback has got a boost after the veteran pacer was named in Bengal's 50-member list of probables for the upcoming 2025-26 domestic season. The 34-year-old, who had returned to competitive action during IPL 2025, looked far from his best in terms of fitness and rhythm. Subsequently, he spent most of that tournament on the sidelines for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

 

Having put in the hard yards during the ongoing off-season, Shami is gearing up to manage his workload for the next domestic season as he looks to navigate his path back to the national team. Shami's long-term ankle injury had sidelined him since the end of the 2023 ODI World Cup and was out of action for a while. He did regain fitness towards the latter half of 2024 but wasn't deemed match fit to be part of India's Test squad to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

 

Since then, Shami has been trying to get his body back to peak fitness. The seasoned pacer was part of Bengal's squad in the fag end of the 2024-25 season across all formats, especially in white-ball cricket. He kept that momentum going in the 2025 Champions Trophy where he was India's joint-highest wicket-taker in the tournament along with Varun Chakaravarthy. It then extended into the stint with SRH which was a mixed bag for Shami.

 

Apart from Shami, the other big names in Bengal's probables include fellow pacer Akash Deep and opening batter Abhimanyu Easwaran. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, fast bowler Mukesh Kumar and wicket-keeper batter Abishek Porel also add muscle to the squad.

 

While India's domestic season doesn't start until late September, the Duleep Trophy is slated to begin on August 28 and Shami could be part of the East Zone squad for the tournamen, if his rehab plans go according to plan.

 

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